This story is archived with permission from former staff members of GWYaoi.org. If you're the author and would like it removed, please email Sharon.

Word Count: 43,375
Pairing: 1x2x1
Rating: PG-13+
Warnings: Alternate Universe; Out of character-ness (it's an AU, which allows for that I suppose); Use of modern-day English despite the middle-ages sort of setting; A little, minor bit of a torture scene towards the end.
Genre: Action; some mystery, romance amongst other things (as the title so proclaims)

Summary: Prince Duo Maxwell of the Alliance reminisces over his life in his cell, especially the significance of a certain blue-eyed, brown haired soldier.

Duo Maxwell sat quietly in his cell, his violet eyes staring wistfully out the only window nearby. It was a clear night with a full moon which could be seen even from where he was sitting with his back against the wall, his legs tied up and his arms chained to the wall at his wrists. Faintly, he could hear the sounds of men passing in the corridor outside, but the thick stone walls and heavy, wooden door muffled the sounds so much that all Duo could hear was random noise, sometimes alternating in loudness.

Duo pressed his head back against the stone wall with a sigh, letting the coolness of the stone calm his headache slightly. His stomach grumbled dully, reminding him that he was hungry even if there was little he could do about it. Duo had not had a bite of food since three nights ago, which was reasonable. There was just no point in feeding a man who was going to die. Duo sighed, eyes slipping shut as his mind wavered, three nights and days of on and off torture and no sustenance finally catching up to him. In his mind's eye, he could see Heero standing over him, offering his hand to pull Duo up, his face unsmiling. Heero rarely smiled, but Duo was glad that the few times the other boy did smile, it was for him.

He could still remember the first time he met Heero. It was stormy that day. There was a thick layer of pewter shading over the land, and strong gusts that whipped at Duo's hair. He had been four at the time, a small little thing with chin-length chestnut hair and wide, violet eyes. Duo could still remember his curiosity as he stood before the castle gates while the man who brought him there conversed with the guards, trying to explain his business to them. They admitted him eventually, pulling open the heavy gate doors and allowing both Duo and the man to pass, but keeping two members of their own men on behind them. Duo could remember the man holding onto his small hand, his grip firm and warm, as they trudged up the path towards the main castle.

By the time they got there, Duo was a shivering mess, trembling violently as he wrapped his arms around himself. The guards at the castle doors conversed with the guards who followed them briefly before pushing open the door, admitting only Duo. Duo remembered turning back to see why the man was not coming, only to see a fast disappearing figure, melting fluidly into the rain as he walked off, shoulders hunched. He had watched the man walk off with indifference, if not a little curiosity, before one of the door-guards grabbed him by the hand and led him away.

The hallway they walked down was baron and cold, but still a comforting change from the rain outside. Duo was still shivering, but the guard offered him little comfort as he marched along swiftly, dragging the poor boy into a trot just to keep up. Despite that, Duo did not complain, his large eyes fixed on taking in everything around him. The walls were bare, save for the torches that adorned it at periodic intervals. There were a few paintings here and there, although they were either so shabby that whatever they were supposed to represent could no longer be seen, or simply uninteresting, for Duo could remember nothing of them save that they were there. He did remember the sword the guard beside him wore at his hip however, for the hilt was so decorated in jewels and bright colors that the young boy would wonder in future whether it was really used to hurt people.

They stopped at a large, mahogany door. The guard knocked once, his other hand still firm around Duo's own hand, before waiting. From inside, a man called, and the guard pushed the door open, his posture stiff.

'Prince Solo.' The guard announced, dragging Duo quickly with him.

'What have we here?' For all the formalities that surrounded the man, Prince Solo was not all that old himself. At that time, he was only sixteen, but already up to his neck in politics and diplomacy, which reflected in his violet eyes. But the rest of his face rebelled against his wisdom, with a sharp chin and almost delicate jaw. His brown hair was short and messy, probably cut by the prince himself during times of great haste, and only succeeded in making him look younger. Still, when he rose from his seat behind his large desk, his posture bore confidence and a strength that would never be seen in any mere child. 'Oh my!'

'A sailor from RedPort found him.' The guard explained dutifully. 'He said he was not sure whose child it was when he fished him out of the water.'

'Good gracious.' Solo bent down before Duo, resting a warm hand against Duo's cold cheek. 'My Duo, you've grown so much since I last saw you.'

'Sailor said he recognized the crest on the necklace he was wearing.' The guard continued. 'But waters became unfavorable, and sailor suffered a pirate raid which took off half his ship. Said he brought him back as soon as his ship was fixed.'

'It's been almost half a year.' Solo murmured, smiling kindly at Duo. 'Do you still remember me, little brother?'

Duo must have answered in the negative, because Solo's eyes were suddenly sad, his face almost grave.

'How half a year changes us brother.' Solo rose quickly to speak to the guard. 'What of the sailor now?'

'He is not requesting anything sir.' The guard replied dutifully. 'He said he was coming into town to sell some goods, bringing in the young prince was along the way. Sailor has a kind heart.'

'Yes, he does.' Solo smiled again, his gaze turning back to Duo. 'Father has already gone to sleep and it would not be wise to wake him, even if it is to deliver him the news of young Duo's safety. Please see to it that he rests well. I will send for some maids to clean up his old room, but he'll have to sleep elsewhere while that is happening. I wonder if there are any other free chambers...Trowa?'

'Yes sir?' Duo startled as a boy stepped out of the shadows, his heart pounding rapidly as he grew accustomed to the new person. Trowa was a lanky boy in his early teens, rising to half a head taller than Solo. His brown hair was combed in a most unusual hairstyle, resulting in covering one of his eyes. His other eye was sharp however, a burning pool of emerald that left Duo feeling slightly uneasy.

'Where do you think young Duo could sleep?' Solo asked, looking slightly agitated. 'Heaven knows this castle is already at its full capacity, what with the delegations here.'

'There is no doubt that the castle is full.' Trowa's voice was cool and without inflection. 'It would be difficult to find the young prince a room indoors. Perhaps he could rest at the stables tonight, or in the guards' quarters. I am sure there will be some space there for a little boy.'

'I hope it doesn't scare him.' Solo sighed, looking at Duo with uncertainty. 'The guards tend to get a bit rambunctious at night...nonetheless, I guess it will have to do.'

'Sleep with the soldiers sir?' The guard asked, confirming the order. Solo nodded an affirmative, giving Duo an almost apologetic look. The guard nodded once more before bowing and taking on of Duo's small hands in his, and taking them both out of Solo's study.

The walk down to the guards' quarters must have been even less interesting, for Duo could not remember it at all. One moment, he and the guard were still inside, walking through the cold corridors, and the next they were in a different section of the castle.

The soldiers rested in a wing that was connected only to the castle via a short, open pass. Duo shivered the instant they walked out into the pass, his teeth chattering as the cold rain flew in despite the roof that stood over them. By the time they reached the other side, he was wet again and trembling. The guard gave him a quick rub on the arms before pushing open the heavy doors, finding himself almost instantly accosted by two doormen. He murmured something quickly to them, but Duo's attention was divided elsewhere, too busy soaking in the warmth around him and the sharp smell of sweat and meat and alcohol. The place was almost completely dark, save for the fireplace near the entrance where many guards stood around, enjoying their dinners while chatting loudly with one another. The guard with Duo immediately tightened his grip around the young boy's hand, obviously making sure that he did not lose him.

They walked silently through the entrance hall, passing through a large arch just off the fireplace. Almost immediately, Duo found the noises and chattering fade as they entered the sleeping quarters. It seemed as if this area was just one long, continuous chamber lined with beds down the sides and torches at frequent intervals, most of which were put out. Snores filled the area, plus the hushed whispers of conversation amongst soldiers going to bed. The guard with Duo continued walking, his pace never slowing until they reached the end of the long chamber, finally stopping at an empty bed in the corner of the room. The guard looked around quickly, finally settling on the person sleeping in the bed next to the empty one.

'Yuy.' He said sharply, instantly rousing the soldier sleeping there. It turned out to be a young boy, perhaps four years older than Duo. His hair was brown, messy from sleep as the boy sat up quickly, his movements baring no relations to his age. The boy turned his gaze on them, his eyes a sharp blue, tinted orange by the flickering torchlight. 'When morning comes, take this boy to Prince Solo's study. But before then, he is your responsibility, do you understand?'

'Yes.' His voice was soft and slightly high with his youth, however, there was nothing childish about his stern tone. The older guard nodded, giving Duo a quick bow before walking away, his boots clicking on the stone floor as he passed.

Duo stood and stared for the longest time, unsure what to say. Yuy did not move, almost as if he were a statue, waiting for Duo to do something. Finally, the young prince smiled and thrust out his right hand, an action he had seen previous but was not sure from where.

'I'm Duo.' He said hesitantly, violet eyes still locked with Heero's. The soldier was still for a moment longer, his blue eyes never wavering, before taking Duo's hand firmly in his own.

'Heero.' He said quietly, his voice every bit as cold and monotonous as Trowa's. 'Heero Yuy.'

'You're a soldier?' Duo asked, feeling less awkward now that he was getting a response from Heero.

'Yes.' Heero responded blandly. 'It's late, you should go to sleep.'

'Oh, all right.' Duo smiled, turning and climbing into the empty bed. In the bed next to him, he heard Heero lie down again and pull up the blankets. He pulled his own blanket up to his chin, feeling the coarseness of the fabric brush against his arm. It was not the most comfortable experience Duo ever had, but it was not the worst. Still, Duo could not fall asleep, and even when all the lights had been extinguished, and there was only the sound of snoring in the air, the young prince was still awake. He shifted in his bed slightly, turning so that he could stare up at the dark ceiling, even though he could not see anything. He hoped that the blackness of it all would send him off to sleep, but there was something distinctly unusual about sleeping on his own in a room full of soldiers, and try as he might, he could not fall asleep.

'Sleep, boy, or you won't wake up in the morning.' Heero murmured, his voice carrying clearly despite his quiet tone.

'Can't.' Duo replied, turning in his bed to face Heero.

'You don't have to fear the soldiers.' Heero said in a would-be reassuring voice.

'I know.' Duo curled up under his blanket. 'I know that, but still...'

There was silence for a moment, disturbed only by the occasional snore in the background and the ruffling of sheets as somebody turned in their sleep. Then Duo heard ruffling next to him, and looked over quickly to see Heero pulling his blankets off and moving slightly to the other side of the bed.

'You can sleep with me if you're worried.' The soldier said quietly. Duo paused for only a moment, uncertain, before scrambling out of bed and climbing in beside Heero.

'Thanks Heero!'

'Hn.' Heero grunted, pulling the blanket up around them. 'Go to sleep.'

It seemed that only then did Duo's day finally catch up to him, and the young prince was asleep within minutes.

Part 2

Duo could not remember what time it was when he finally got out of bed the following morning. The only thing he could remember was feeling distinctly disgruntled about it as Heero tugged him along, slipping past the rousing guards around them and out into the pass. It was still raining outside, but the light of day allowed Duo to take notice of the courtyard they passed by, pausing momentarily to stare at the soldiers sparring in the yard. Heero gave him a light tug to pull Duo out of his revere, before leading Duo back inside the castle.

The first place Heero took them to was the kitchens. It was a large place with red walls gone dark with soot near the fire. The room was lined with four, long tables, at which numerous guards now sat, enjoying breakfast while screaming at each other to be heard over the din everyone around them were making. Heero's grip tightened around Duo's hand as he led the boy towards one of the tables, hurriedly grabbing a plate and loading it with food before slipping quickly out of the kitchens again. Duo gave him a puzzled look when they strayed back into the corridor outside, finally settling down in another corridor five rooms down.

'It's too full in the kitchens.' Heero explained, placing the plate down on the floor while sitting down himself, back against the wall. Duo followed suit, only on the other side of the plate. After receiving a nod from Heero, Duo ripped himself half of the loaf of bread Heero had snagged, stuffing it into his mouth eagerly. He could not remember the last time he had eaten, and did not know how he managed to get so far without more food. Heero shot him what could only be called a mildly amused look, although his face did not change, before helping himself to some bread and a slice of meat.

'It's yummy!' Duo grinned, promptly reaching for some bacon and stuffing his mouth with it. Heero gave him a look, both his eyes and his face showing how unimpressed he was. Duo pulled a face as best as he could with his mouth fit to burst, trying to chew as quickly as he could.

'The food isn't going to disappear you know.' Heero muttered after a while, blue eyes fixed on Duo as if waiting for him to choke. The young prince tried to yell back his response, except all that came out was some muffled gibberish which left Heero with an even less amused expression.

'I'm just hungry.' Duo took in a quick gasp of air, mouth finally freed. He reached over for the remainder of his portion of bread that he had set down earlier, but Heero stopped him before he got there. With a meaningful look, Heero broke the bread into three moderate-sized pieces, handing Duo one piece while moving the plate away. The young prince gave him a most horrified look, but Heero remained stern.

'I don't know where you came from.' He said calmly, his tone suddenly reminding Duo of the one fathers used when they reprimanded their sons. 'But this is a castle and we serve kings here, and you're going to be thrown back onto the streets if you don't learn to stop acting like a beggar.'

'I'm not a beggar!' Duo protested, snatching the bread piece out of Heero's hands and shoving it quickly into his mouth. Heero gave him an irritable look while Duo chewed, swallowing quickly to free his voice. 'I'm just hungry.'

'Learn some restraint.' Heero sighed. 'There are going to be a lot of important meetings happening this week, and bad behavior on our part will not be tolerated.'

'Whatever.' Duo reached over Heero for another bit of bread. Heero promptly shoved him back. 'Hey!'

'Manners Duo.'

By the time breakfast was over, Duo was in a rather foul mood. Heero had been most adamant where teaching him table manners (without the table) had been concerned, and it was all Duo could do not to scream at the soldier in irritation. He was hungry, and yet Heero continued handing him only small portions of food, and insisting that Duo eat slowly and chew his food thoroughly before he swallowed it. Duo did as he was told, but only because he was hungry, and by the end, he was really wondering what was wrong with the soldier. Children just did not act like that!

Heero returned the plate to the kitchens before taking Duo by the hand again and leading him off to Solo's study. The corridors were full of people now, leaving Duo in awe as they pushed through along the sides, making sure not to step on anybody's shoes. Duo was constantly distracted by the people that passed, whether it be what they were wearing or what they smelt like or what they looked like. He took great delight in telling Heero about the various perfumes some passing women were wearing, uncertain where the knowledge came from, but knowing that it was correct nonetheless. Heero did not seem to listen at all as he continued to drag Duo along, pausing only when Duo stopped to give the violet-eyed boy a hard tug on the hand to pull him out of his revere.

The pair finally stopped before the large doors leading into Solo's study. Heero took a moment to brush down Duo's clothes, smoothing the wrinkles as best as he could before knocking thrice. From inside, Duo heard Solo call out just like the previous night, and Heero pushed the door open, tugging him inside as well.

Solo was sitting at his desk yet again, but this time, he did not rise when they entered. Instead, he bid them over distractedly, his violet eyes fixed on the papers before him. Next to him, Trowa stood quietly, still as a statue as he watched Heero and Duo approach. When they were finally near enough, he moved to stand behind Solo's chair, eyes still fixed on them. Duo shuddered slightly, not liking the emerald-eyed boy's scrutiny. Somehow, Heero seemed not to mind at all, taking the moment to shoot the other boy a cold glare.

'Duo!' Solo said finally, finishing signing a document before smiling at Duo. Duo cast his brother a smile in return, uncertain what else to say. Thankfully, Solo said it for him. 'How was your night?'

'Good.' Duo replied cheerfully. 'It was warm.'

'That's good.' Solo pushed his chair back slowly, standing up with a groan before walking over to stand before Duo, kneeling so that they were at eye-level with each other. 'I'm sorry you had to sleep in the guards' room though. The castle has just been more than a little hectic lately, with renovations going on in the fourth floor where your chamber used to be, and all the foreign delegates here. It might not mean much to you, but the trade conference is to commence shortly and my god, people have been flooding in like some great dam just collapsed. I've already sent some servants and maids to clear out a passage for your room, and to clean up your room as well. You probably shouldn't go there until tonight though, because there is going to be more than a little dust in the air.'

'It's all right.' Duo grinned.

'Good.' Solo stood up slowly, groaning a little as his back straightened. 'Forgive me, I must sound like an old man. I haven't moved from my desk since last night and even young bones can't take so long without exercise. Have you had breakfast yet?'

'Yea!' Duo said happily. 'It was nice.' His face fell here, glancing sideways to shoot Heero an evil glare. 'Except Heero wouldn't let me eat properly.'

'Oh?' Solo cast Heero a questioning look that was far more sharp and cold than anything Duo had seen on the prince's face previously. The soldier beside him did not even blink, his face blank and eyes giving nothing away.

'He was eating too quickly, sir.' Heero responded softly without intonation. 'I feared that he may choke.'

'That's a valid point.' Suddenly, Solo's face was all sunshine again. 'Well, come then Duo, I'll take you to meet father. You are dismissed, soldier.'

Heero nodded once in affirmation before bowing and leaving, his back straight and his posture rigid. Duo felt like protesting, but a glance at Trowa killed the cry before it reached his lips. There was that eerie look there again that chilled Duo's heart, and frightened him into submission without words. Solo's grin fell at Duo's sudden fear, obviously uncertain why it was that his brother had suddenly gone so quiet. Comfortingly, he reached over and grabbed Duo's hand in his, ruffling his brother's hair before leading Duo away.

Duo's father was a hearty man with broad shoulders and a deep voice. His hair was a much darker brown than both his sons, and was cropped extremely short. Staring at him, Duo could see hardly any similarities between himself and Solo, and the man sitting at the dining table opposite them. Except for the eyes, his brain supplied, the king also had violet eyes.

When Solo had first brought him into the King's chambers earlier, the man had been ecstatic. Dropping all propriety and picking Duo up in a hug, spinning the young boy around. Duo had giggled madly, knowing that this man was his father without memories. The king had finally settled Duo down after they were both too dizzy to spin and further while Solo scolded them both for being childish. The reprimand may have sounded more convincing had Solo not been chuckling himself, clutching his stomach with one hand and attempting to muffle the sound with his other. Duo had fallen over while the room continued to spin around him, finally settling a moment later to show him that his father was likewise on the floor, his violet eyes bright.

Breakfast had arrived a moment later, brought in by two maids, both of whom stared at them for a long moment, uncertain whether they should drop their trays and help their king back onto his feet. The king had waved his hand quickly in a gesture that conveyed he was all right, getting up quickly and picking Duo up around his middle. The young prince had screamed, which soon turned into a fit of giggles as he found himself dropped on a seat before the dining table. Solo had settled in the seat next to him, wiping away tears of mirth. The maids then quickly set the table, before backing away from the table to stand like statues a short distance away, silver trays clutched to their breasts while they waited.

'Oh, let's hope I can stomach some breakfast after that.' The king said humorously, cutting himself a portion of the chicken served. He gave Duo a curious look when Duo did not begin eating, to which Duo quickly responded to by informing his father that he had already eaten. Solo then told the king that the soldier watching Duo had attended to his hunger, having not received news that the young prince was to dine with the king. The king nodded his assent, still encouraging Duo to eat some more. In the end, Duo settled for some soup which on of the maids poured for him before resuming her place next to the other maid.

'Half a year.' The king said after a while. 'You've changed so much during this half a year Duo...where have you been?'

'With a sailor.' Duo replied, recalling the conversation between the door guard and Solo.

'I hope you lived well.' His father smiled sadly. 'Heaven knows I should have put more effort into your search, but we were deep in the middle of trying to forge a truce with Romefeller...but no matter, you're safe now and that's all that matters. Forgive your old man for neglecting you?'

'Papa doesn't need to ask for that.' Duo grinned. 'I never held anything against you.'

The rest of breakfast proceeded easily, although Solo did comment at one point that Duo needed to refine his table manners. The king instantly brushed it aside, insisting that a child so young as Duo did not need to remember such tedious etiquette. Solo had then given them both a stern look which extracted guilty looks from both parties.

Breakfast had barely finished when a guard marched in and informed the king and Solo that the conference was to begin shortly. The king gave Duo a sad look, depressed at not having enough time to spend with his recently reunited son. Solo sighed, reminding Duo with a firm pat on the shoulder than one day, Duo would have to participate in the boring, but necessary meetings. Duo shuddered at the thought, shaking his head madly before announcing something completely outlandish. Both his brother and father laughed, but excused themselves shortly after with solemn looks on their faces. Just before they went, Solo quickly reminded Duo that he was free to wander around the place so long as he stayed out of trouble, and to avoid the great hall and other such open chambers. Duo had agreed, although the pleading look his brother shot him before walking away with his father told him that he knew the young boy would land himself in some trouble either way.

Duo bounced happily out into the hall, almost bowling over a laundry maid. Both he and the maid apologized, bending down to collect the scattered dirty laundry together to place back in the maid's large basket. The girl thanked Duo when they were done, continuing on her way only after making a curtsey. Duo did not understand why she did it, but found it something to laugh about regardless.

He wandered around the corridors with no apparent destination in mind, not that he knew where everything was anyway. He found himself enchanted by the busy people that rushed by, some in complicated, gaudy clothing while others marched around uniforms. Twice, he ended up being carried away by a crowd of guards, finally deciding not to resist. Moments later, Duo found himself outside in the courtyard.

The rain stopped a while ago, but the sky was still a heavy gray. The courtyard was slippery with water, but still, the soldiers sparred on, using the lack of friction as a training device no doubt. Duo enjoyed himself running around and suddenly stopping, laughing madly as his feet tangled beneath him and sent him crashing to the floor. It hurt slightly, but he was soon so muddy and cold that he did not care. He probably would have continued like that had Heero not rushed over and ushered him indoors.

'You're a mess.' The young soldier scolded, using one of Duo's shirt sleeves to wipe away the mud now plastered the young prince's face. 'Rolling around in the mud is definitely not a role befitting of a prince.'

'Say what now?' Duo asked, making faces as Heero rubbed at his cheek. 'You speak funny Heero.'

'You act like a moron.' Heero muttered, dragging Duo inside the Soldier's Quarters. 'Pardon my insolence.'

'What's insolence?' Duo asked. Heero did not answer, his grip tight as he dragged Duo towards his bed. Once they got there, the young soldier quickly removed all of Duo's clothes, tossing the dirty garments in a heap on the floor. From a small case under his bed, he pulled out a fresh set of clothes and handed them to Duo. The young prince grinned widely, pulling the shirt on backwards on purpose, drawing an irritated growl from his soldier companion. With a scowl on his face, Heero set to help Duo into his clothing, making sure the young prince put them on the right way. Despite his obvious annoyance, Heero was gentle, something which the young prince appreciated.

Heero took Duo back outside after that, although he made sure the young prince did not go diving into the mud again. Duo muttered about being bored under his breath, something the soldier heard regardless. Taking Duo's hand again, Heero lead the small boy off to a part of the castle grounds Duo had yet to visit.

'This is the stables.' Heero declared as they entered. Duo would have answered, except his attention was split elsewhere, too busy taking in all the various horses, dogs and other animals. A small puppy followed him everywhere as they walked around, finally bowling the small boy over in a moment of excitement. Heero gave him an unusual look as he watched Duo and the dog wrestle, something which Duo deduced was a mixture of fondness and exasperation. Finally reaching a truce, Heero helped the young prince up again, the small puppy still yapping happily at their heels. Duo bent down and collected the puppy, letting the small thing bark in his arms and lick his face until he smelt like puppy breath. He held out the pup to Heero, who gave both him and the puppy a look before turning around and marching on. Duo grumbled under his breath, complaining about weird boys who acted like strict grandfathers.

'There are a lot of horses.' Duo commented after a while, the pup finally calming down in his arms.

'The castle has many visitors.' Heero replied. 'They are holding the trade conferences, so all the lords and ladies have gathered. Surely you knew that already.'

'I didn't know everybody rode horses.'

'They don't.' Heero agreed. 'Most came via carriages, and a few through ships. But there has to be servants and maids everywhere, and horses to pull carriages.'

'Busy castle.' Duo stopped to pet a horse on the leg, for it was as high as he could reach. He had not even touched the creature when Heero jerked his roughly backwards.

'Dangerous.' The soldier grunted, frowning as he dragged the young prince away from the horse. 'That horse could have kicked your skull open.'

'You're no fun Heero.' Duo pouted.

'I'm practical.' Heero replied. 'And you're an imbecile.'

'What's an imbecile?' Heero gave Duo a most blank look, while smiling ever-so-slightly, his gaze curious. Heero stared for a moment, an incredulous expression on his face. When he suddenly realized that Duo really was not joking, he turned on his heel and marched off, leaving a confused prince to chase after him.

Part 3

Shinigami. That was what Duo decided he would call the puppy. He did not know why that name stuck in his mind, where it even came from, or what it meant. But as he clutched the puppy to his chest, Duo felt the strong urge to keep the pup and name it just that. It took little negotiating with the stable master on Duo's part, despite Heero's blatant disinclination to participate. The stable master -- a happy and outrageously boisterous man -- was completely happy with Duo's decision to raise a puppy, and only encouraged Duo by saying that a young boy needed a pet. Heero had stood quietly in the corner, his face completely blank, but still managing to convey how exasperated he was. It seemed that even Howard could feel Heero's dark mood, for he soon excused himself to check on the horses, leaving Duo behind with one hyperactive puppy and an obviously unhappy guard.

'Why don't you want me to have a dog?' The young prince asked as they walked back up to the castle, the puppy still resting snugly in his arms. Heero gave him an obvious look which failed to convey the message to Duo, before sighing and staring back at the path before them. Thinking that it would be wise to change the topic, Duo suggested that he would name the puppy Shinigami.

Heero's swift march faltered abruptly at the mention of the name, something which confused Duo. The young soldier gave him a look filled with mixed emotions, the most obvious being what Duo assumed to be fear. But then it was gone, and Heero was marching once more, albeit more jerkily.

'Why would you want to name it that?' The soldier asked at length. Duo did not answer for a moment, gasping as he caught up with his new-found friend.

'I don't know.' The young prince shrugged. 'I just remembered it from somewhere. Why?'

Heero was silent for a moment, surprising Duo by not entering the castle but walking around it. Soon, they were standing under one of the east wing towers, obscured from view. The young prince gave his companion a curious look at this, noticing that there was the distinct lack of noise here. The puppy in his arms squirmed slightly, letting out a high whine.

'Shinigami is a word in a foreign language.' Heero explained finally, looking at Duo seriously. 'Have you ever heard of the country Romefeller?'

'Somebody said it.' Duo nodded slowly. 'But I can't remember who.'

'Romefeller is the country that we've only recently been able to establish a shaky truce with.' Heero explained. Duo gave him a confused look, accentuated by the puppy that almost pouted in his arms. Heero pressed his lips into a thin line, a tell-tale sign that he was a little irritated, but continued nonetheless. 'Romefeller is a country that this country is always fighting with.'

'Ah!' Duo smiled, feeling glad that he understood what was going on. 'Like a war.'

'Exactly.' Heero paused. 'Trade and communications between Romefeller and the Alliance has always been minimal, and most ventures are very risky. Only merchants who are willing to put their lives-on-the-line have dared to travel between the two countries with goods, and messengers hardly ever return.'

'Huh?'

'It's very dangerous to go to Romefeller if you come from an Alliance nation, and it's also really dangerous for people from Romefeller to go enter the Alliance.' Heero paused, looking more than a little unsatisfied with his description. 'It doesn't matter. The most important thing for you to understand is that the Alliance and Romefeller don't get along.'

'But you said they are friends now.' Duo murmured, looking confused.

'They've reached a truce, but that doesn't make them friends.' Heero looked torn for a moment, as if unable to say what he wanted to say. 'We're off the topic here, but what I'm curious about is how you know a word in the Romefeller language.'

'I don't know.' Duo shrugged. 'But how do you know I said a Romefeller word?'

'Be...before I came to the castle, I traveled with a scholar.' Heero explained hesitantly, his eyes downcast. 'He taught me a few scattered phrases and things while we were traveling.'

'What happened to him?'

'Died of the plague.' Heero answered shortly. 'In any case, Shinigami is a very...it's not the sort of name you would want to give to your dog. The king and Prince Solo will definitely not be pleased if they heard you either.'

'Why?'

'Shinigami means God of Death.' Heero paused for a moment, eyes fixed on Duo's face, looking for a reaction of some sort. Instead, the young prince only grinned widely, showing his teeth, one of which was missing.

'Wow!' Duo laughed, looking down at his puppy. 'That's a really neat name!'

'No it isn't!' Heero shot back, exasperated. 'People just don't call their dogs Shinigami, or call anything Shinigami for that matter.'

'Well, I like it.' Duo muttered stubbornly, hugging the puppy to his cheek. The puppy whined, giving his master a quick lick on the face.

'Please call it something else.' Heero sighed, looking tired. 'It will save you a lot of scolding, I assure you.'

Duo did not agree with Heero, finding Shinigami a better sounding name than anything else he could think of. But the serious expression the boy wore throughout the entire conversation was enough to soften his resolve. In the end, they agreed on a mutual name, although still made Heero sigh and shake his head every time he heard Duo say it.

The dog was henceforth named Scythe, short for Deathscythe, but nobody else ever did find out about that except for Heero and Duo.

Part 4

The trade conferences finally ended about a week after Duo's arrival, and the renovations on the fourth floor were contained so that Duo could go to sleep every day without the constant sound of hammering and the irritating mass of dust everywhere. Duo himself did not mind, and Solo later declared that a brutal war could be happening right next to Duo's bed, and the young prince would still not hear it. The king found it amusing, Duo was somewhat put-out at being teased, and Heero found the entire thing rather disturbing.

'You could be assassinated so easily.' The soldier would say with a shake of his head, and proceed to spend the rest of the week surprising Duo by randomly appearing out of the shadows just as he had seen Trowa do, making sure to scold Duo every time he succeeded. The young prince found it all a rather funny joke, and found Heero just a tad paranoid, but nonetheless became more aware of his surroundings at all times.

Duo's chamber was a room much to large for him, with a large, heavy bed; a soft, colorful rug; a old, wooden wardrobe and a magnificent table that was never used for anything besides meals, and even those were rare because Duo constantly ate with his father or the soldiers. Scythe soon claimed the rug, leaving his hair all over the thing until Duo was forced to call a maid over to clean it. Heero made a face every time he entered Duo's room, making sure to open all the windows and remind Duo to clean the place. Duo would always pout but agreed, even though he never really did anything until things became unbearable.

Heero soon became a constant companion, almost always there to help Duo and keep the young prince company. Duo himself soon found himself with more things to do, now that his father and older brother had finished with all the meetings. The young prince was force-fed etiquette until he was ready to scream, but even that was against court courtesy, as his tutor reminded him most solemnly one day after Duo had effectively screamed himself hoarse. After that, the young prince just took careful measures in avoiding his lessons, hiding out in various parts of the castle where he knew the guards searching for him would overlook. It would always work fine until Heero came running over, the young soldier seeming to know every possible hiding place of Duo's on the back of his hand, and always combing through them so methodically that Duo never quite escaped. In times like those, Duo would growl and clutch the nearest fixed object while barking his refusal to return. Heero would always let him complain and whine until he had nothing else to say, and then proceed to grab the young prince and hoist him over his shoulders, and carry the screaming and flailing Duo back to his tutor.

Heero was busy a lot as well. When he was not running around the castle trying to find Duo and return him to whatever class he was supposed to be attending, he was out in the courtyard practicing his sword techniques or sparring with the other men. Duo would sit on the back castle steps in silence, watching as his friend grappled with his opponent, often a soldier much older than Heero. The young prince soon realized that Heero was the only soldier in the castle to be barely nine summers old, and yet the other soldiers and guards treated him like an equal. When Heero made a mistake, he was faced with the same repercussions as another much older soldier would have faced, and he was also likewise praised for outstanding performances. Duo also realized that despite Heero's small stature, the boy was extremely strong, and unbelievably fast.

Duo had known all along that Heero was strong, especially since the boy could always pick him up with such ease. But seeing Heero spar against a man twice his size and still hold his own without much effort was a sight to behold. Often, the younger maids would rush over when the saw Heero sparring, and the other soldiers and guards would break away from their own fights to watch. Even when Heero was not winning by his superhuman strength, the young soldier would always quickly change tactics and formulate another way of defeating the enemy. When he did lose, he did so graciously, although Duo could tell that he was fuming on the inside, berating himself for his own weakness.

Heero was strange that way, and as time passed, it became even more apparent. The young soldier hated to lose, but that was nothing unusual. Nobody liked to lose or to fail at something, anything, but Heero was different about it. When Duo lost a sparring competition, he would think to himself that he would do better next time. He would practice perhaps a bit more, just so that he could come closer to accomplishing his goal. When Heero lost a match, he would nod it off with that blank expression on his face, and then proceed to sulk in his own way. It was not obvious sulking, in fact, the young soldier hid it quite well. If Duo had not known him better, then he would not have realized that something was amiss with the blue-eyed boy. But something was wrong, because Heero's movements would become more rigid, and his eyes would become that much more blank, and even when night fell and all the other soldiers had gone to eat their dinner or engage in castle gossip, Heero would still remain in the courtyard, training. Sometimes, he would hide somewhere where the other soldiers would not look, and train himself in a far more vicious and careless way than Duo had ever seen him. By the end, Heero would be so tired, his movements so sluggish that he would not win a fight against even a small child, and he would finally let himself fall.

Twice within Duo's first month did he find Heero in such a position, lying on his back while the rain poured. And twice did the young prince pick up his friend and help him in to his own room, seating Heero down on Scythe's rug, making sure to kindle the fire before helping his friend out of his wet clothes. Heero protested the first time Duo carried him inside, but he was too weak to fight the determined prince off. By the second time, he did not even try to object.

Heero was away a lot. Often, he would just slip away and return a day or so later as if nothing had happened. At first, the young prince assumed that it was a soldier thing, that perhaps the guards had to go elsewhere around the city to keep crime rates low, or something equally unusual but not completely farfetched. However, when he approached a few of the guards after Heero's seventh disappearance, it was to be greeted with shakes of heads and a few shrugs. The rest of the guards had no idea where Heero went, except that he would always disappear now and again. Heero had always been rather unusual to them in the first place, and the boy had been more than a little reluctant to make friends. In the end, Duo was probably the only person in the castle who knew Heero as a friend, the only person whom Heero enjoyed (or so Duo hoped) spending time with. It unnerved the young prince a little, and he firmed his resolve to ask Heero where he went as soon as the young soldier returned. Shame Duo never did find out where Heero went until much, much later, and when he did, he found that he did not want to have found out at all.

The one time Duo tried to ask the soldier for answers, Heero ignored him. It was after one of Heero's sparring practices, and Duo had just finished another lesson on court etiquette. He was still angry about his tutor's irritating smile, having never felt a greater urge to punch someone in the face as he did with that man. Still, Heero would make it better, he thought as he walked down to the courtyard to meet with his friend, either that or Heero would make it worse. But at least he could punch Heero in the arm if he was irritated, and perhaps even receive a smack behind the head in retaliation.

Heero was not in the courtyard when Duo got there, and a quick check with the other soldiers informed him that Heero had left sometime during early morning. Duo frowned, uncertain whether he should feel irritated or worried with Heero's constant disappearances. Sighing, the young prince marched off to the stables, where he was greeted by Scythe and his two brothers. The puppies yapped happily when Duo arrived, tagging at the prince's heels and making sure to lick a lot when Duo bent down to pat them. Howard greeted Duo explosively when he caught sight of the young prince, smacking Duo hard on the shoulders before quickly checking around to see if Heero was in close proximity. The stable master and the soldier never did get along well, although Duo was uncertain whether if it was because their personalities clashed or if their line of thought was often so similar. One thing was for sure, and that was that both were exceptionally stubborn.

At length, Duo decided to take Scythe for a walk around town. Howard was probably the only person who knew of Duo's visits to the town, mostly because of the paranoid ideas of his father, his brother and Heero. His father was always saying that there was somebody who wanted to kidnap him, his brother that somebody was always trying to hurt him, and Heero that somebody was always trying to kill him. The way those three talked about it, Duo was a defenseless child who could do nothing but cry and scream when danger arrived. Never mind that he had been to the town countless times, made friends with many of the townsfolk (although under a different alias), and even learnt a few pocket-picking techniques off a few of the children.

He was passing by the bakery when he spotted Heero, or rather, Heero spotted him. For a moment, Heero looked almost frightened, but then his blue eyes darted around, scanning for the guards that were not there, and he became instantly angry. Duo's two companions at the time -- a boy called Derek and a girl by the name of Claire -- glanced at him curiously, uncertain why he was suddenly standing so still. Scythe barked loudly, looking positively joyous at seeing Heero, and alerting Duo's two friends of the boy walking their way. They both looked confused for a moment, as if wondering who this new friend was, but then they caught sight of the sword hanging off Heero's hip, and the positively furious look in his eyes, and they were off, vanishing into the background as if they were never there.

'Heero!' Duo greeted hesitantly, backing ever so slightly. Heero continued his slow march over, his eyes glinting. When he finally reached the young boy, the soldier reached over and grabbed Duo's wrist in a tight hold, his grip unyielding even as Duo struggled to free himself.

'What are you doing here?' Heero asked, his voice dangerous. 'Most importantly, what are you doing here alone?'

'Just visiting.' Duo replied nervously, never having seen Heero so angry before. Scythe was silent by his feet, cowering at Heero's obvious rage.

'Have you no concerns for your own safety?' Heero asked, voice so quiet and yet reverberating in Duo's mind as if he had screamed it. 'Do you realize how dangerous it is to be wandering around town with but your puny hound to defend you?'

'I can defend myself quite well, thank you.' Duo growled back angrily, trying to shake of Heero's grip to no avail. 'I'm not some kind of idiot.'

'Could have fooled me.'

'I beg your pardon?' Duo was furious. He had never held much concern at Heero's obvious disregard for his rank, save for to use as weapons against Duo during such arguments about his safety, but for the first time, Duo was feeling positively livid. 'I don't think it's up to you to decide whether I'm a fool or not, besides, what in hell's name are you doing here when you should be up at the castle?'

'That's of no business of yours.' Heero growled, wrenching at Duo's arm and pulling the startled prince into a march. A few bystanders watched the two argue with disinterest, taking the whole confrontation to be no more than childish squabbling, to which Duo was glad for. But at that moment, he felt no such thing as Heero dragged him up towards the castle, his grip never loosening around Duo's arm.

'Let go Heero!' The young prince growled, violet-eyes flashing angrily. 'You have no right!'

'I think I do.' Heero muttered back, his voice cold.

'I am your prince for god's sake!' Duo cried, his pulling rank a true sign of his desperation. 'And I demand that you release me immediately!'

'Shame that you learn how to speak properly, and the first thing you do is pull rank.' Heero growled, finally stopping to give Duo a piercing look. 'But I'm not doing this as your subordinate.'

'Well, you have no reason to besides that.' Duo argued, latching his other hand onto Heero's grip in an attempt to loosen it. No such luck.

'In case you haven't realized, I do consider us friends.' Heero said seriously. 'Or have I messed up my definition of friendship, your highness?'

There was silence for the longest time while Duo paused, violet eyes fixed on Heero's. It was true that they were friends, but neither had ever openly said it, and sometimes, Duo really felt that Heero was with him solely because it was his duty as a member of the Royal Guards. But standing there, on the outskirts of the town and nearing the castle, Heero finally said it. They were friends, good friends, and Heero was genuinely worried about Duo, even if his worrying was a bit suffocating at times.

Before the soldier could respond, Duo had flung himself into him, wrapping the other boy in an awkward embrace with one hand. Heero was rigid for a moment, as if uncertain what to do. Then his hand loosened around Duo's wrist, and he wrapped both free hands around the young prince, his touch ever so light, as if he was unsure how much force he was supposed to put into it. Duo grinned happily, making full use of his hands to hug Heero for all he was worth.

They skipped up to the castle after that, or rather, Duo skipped up to the castle while Heero followed in his steady march.

The question about where Heero had been hung unanswered, but suddenly, it did not matter much anymore.

Part 5

It was during Duo's eighth year, or his fourth spent at the castle, that Heero went away to battle. Solo left as well, being the leader of that division of the army, taking Heero and an enormous legion of soldiers with him. They were going off to fight against Romefeller, the shaky alliance having finally collapsed over a disagreement that should have been easily solved. But as diplomatic as both side's leaders tried to be, it seemed that stubbornness was something that both held onto fiercely.

So while Duo's father spent his days in a constant stream of meetings and other conferences, never having a moment to spare for his young son, Duo waited out his days in the Stone Garden on the northern rooftop. It was summer when they first left, and despite the heat of the days, Duo would sit on the rooftop wall, feet dangling over the parapet, scouting for any signs of returning troops. It was foolish of him, for the others had only just left, but he found himself distracted when he tried doing other things. In the end, it seemed better to spend his time sitting there, waiting, than to stay indoors, staring at a scroll and practicing his letters when not a single word he read even passed his brain.

But as summer passed and even autumn slowly drew to a close, Duo found himself unable to keep sitting there. His father began taking him into certain conferences with him, and Duo found all his other time packed with writing classes, dancing classes, sparring practice, history classes, literature classes, and so many other tasks that he had previously never considered. It seemed that his father had finally decided that the only way to counter Duo's compulsive behavior of camping on the rooftop, was to fill his schedule so that he had no time to sit on the roof and contemplate when the soldiers would return.

Come mid-winter, and the dead and severely injured started to arrive. Duo found himself terribly distracted, wanting to check the bodies and hurt soldiers for any signs of his brother or Heero, but afraid of what he might find. His father had said nothing, which meant that Solo was more than likely fine. Heero was not so important a character however, and Duo feared more and more with every day that passed. Desperate to get the thoughts out of his head, the young prince began filling up what was left of his days with other activities. He rode his horse, ran with Scythe (who was now a magnificent creature with a bright white coat, blending in with the snowy background), and spent more time down in the town. It was fear, pure and simple, and yet he could not counter it.

Winter was drawing to a close when he had his accident. He was riding his horse most recklessly, when the stud dashed onto the river surface expecting something solid, but was met by the crunching sound of cracking ice. The poor beast sunk into the river, taking Duo down with him choking and flailing. The current had carried them halfway down the river when the horse finally managed to clamber onto land, dragging his young master with him. By the time Duo got back to the castle, he was a shaking and shivering mess, worse by many times in comparison to when he first arrived at the castle back when he was four. The maids helped him quickly to his room, changing him and putting him firmly in bed. The fireplace was soon alive, all the windows closed, and Duo was lying in a semi-unconscious state while his worried father paced around, and three doctors were called in to diagnose his problem. All three recommended a few herbs, some rich soup and a great deal of bed rest. Scythe was removed from his room, just in case Duo caught something else off the dog in his vulnerable state.

Thus was how Duo spent the rest of winter and the majority of spring, lying in bed in a feverish state, constantly cold and hot at the same time and screaming at anybody who would listen to help him and make the burning go away. But nothing helped, and more doctors were called in, all of which recommended the same treatments as the previous doctors, and still, Duo did not get better. His father took to visiting him every day, bringing him his meals whenever he could, and Duo could see the concern and helplessness in the man's eyes. But he could do nothing as his body refused to recover, and with each passing day, Duo felt himself get slightly weaker, his limbs that much heavier. His meals were all spoon fed by others, often his father, and most of the time, very little went down. Duo hated the soup, and yet nobody would give him anything less oily, and the haunted look that crossed his father's face every time he brought Duo more food only further told Duo how badly he must look. But still, he did not get better.

It was during mid spring that the fever finally broke, giving way to sneezes and coughs, but no more haunted dreams and days and nights spent in blurs of extreme heat and cold. His body ached all over, but Duo was finally feeling conscious again. He was horrified when he tried to drink soup by himself, but found his arms shaking from the effort of simply holding a spoon. Later, he resigned himself to being spoon fed, his eyes always fixed on the closed window, watching spring die away into summer from within his closed chambers.

A year passed, and still, Heero did not return.

It was during the start of summer that Duo finally recovered enough to move around again. A glance at the mirror showed him a horrible mess. It seemed that Duo was now all skin and bone: his cheekbones were showing, his face pale, and his violet-eyes looking deader than ever. His body was weak, unable to stand for more than a few moments at a time, and it seemed that one of his legs would be permanently stiff for at least the near future. It seemed that even when the rest of him recovered, Duo would still be confined to hobbling like a cripple. The thought was enough to send him back into bed.

Autumn came, and routine returned once again, only with significantly less tasks. Duo was still weak from his sickness, and could spend only few hours a day walking around the castle, even less sparring, not that he was any good with a lame leg. Duo spent ages in bed every day, with the curtains pulled open so that he could stare out the window in the hopes of catching sight of a legion of soldiers, finally returning home. He had large piles of scrolls lying around, reading and writing only recently becoming his newest hobbies. Scythe was allowed into his room again, and the dog would spend its days lying at its master's bedside, sprawled on the rug and taking up more room than should physically be possible. Duo would pet the creature every so often, and the dog would be happy, yapping at its master's good health before Duo had to lie down from a headache, and the dog would go back to resting on the rug, possibly berating itself for causing its own master harm.

Autumn gave way to winter, and Duo was finally back to his original self, or as much as possible. He still tired easily, and his leg remained stiff. The doctors he consulted all insisted that he was making a brilliant recovery, but his leg would probably remain lame for a while. Duo did not want to ask how long "a while" was, unsure whether he would be able to take the information. But aside from that, life was back to normal. Solo and Heero were still not back, even though it seemed that half the men had returned in corpses and severely injured. Duo had braced himself and went into the infirmary at one point, his curiosity for Heero finally getting the better of him. The sight of men with severed limbs and bearing obvious signs of torture sent him running out again as fast as his lame leg would allow him. The same images haunted him throughout the next month, only this time with Solo and Heero being the ones missing pieces and screaming in pain.

Winter returned again, and this time, Duo found himself keeping well away from riding, not that he could get anywhere with his leg the way it was. He tried to spar with some of the remaining soldiers, although they were too frightened to hurt him, and he could not get himself to move fluidly and fast enough to convince them that he was not as fragile as he looked. His father had alerted the kitchens that they were to feed him until he was fit to burst, landing Duo with enormous trays of food that he could never finish. He appetite never did return to what it was, and neither did his weight. Even though he was technically healthy, Duo remained all skin and bone with small amounts of fat and muscle. His father would frown every time he saw him, but once again, Duo found himself unable to help the worried king.

Duo was sitting out on the front steps of the castle with Scythe sitting next to him, perfectly happy with being used as a pillow so long as Duo did not stop scratching him under the ears, when the first messenger arrived. The boy arrived on a brown horse, galloping insanely fast and finally skidding to a halt when he reached the castle. Duo sprung up quickly, tripping over his leg and falling back over again. Scythe launched himself before Duo, fangs bared and making low, growling noises in his throat, looking as menacing as he could. The messenger hesitated, unsure what he should do when faced with such a menacing creature belonging to somebody of high social standing. Duo rose again, this time managing not to topple over in the process. He gave the messenger a questioning look.

'Yes?'

'Prince Duo, sir!' The messenger clambered off his horse quickly, slipping on the icy floor. 'I come bearing news.'

'I assumed as much.' Duo gave a curious look. 'So?'

'The army has finally won the battle sir! Prince Solo's army is now on their way home.'

'Really?' Duo was limping down the steps in a flash, almost stumbling over Scythe, who thankfully moved out of the way. 'How much longer till they get back?'

'Within the day sir.' The messenger replied. 'Should I deliver the news to the king sir?'

'Yes, yes, of course.' Duo was feeling positively thrilled as he let the messenger pass, a goofy smile plastered on his face as he resumed his seat on the stone steps, Scythe sitting with its head in its master's lap. 'Did you hear that Scythe? Solo is coming home! Solo, and Heero, Heero is coming home!'

Part 6

Duo tried to stay awake waiting for his brother and best friend to return, honest he did. However, his will power soon gave way to sleep, and it was only Scythe's loud barking that alerted him of the returning soldiers. However, the young prince was so groggy when he awoke again that it took him a moment to process what the mass of soldiers marching steadily closer meant. His mind did not manage to connect the dots until Solo was but a dozen feet away, calling out Duo's name and grinning tiredly to his young brother. Duo grinned back, greeting Solo with as much warmth and pleasure as he could put into words, struggling to stand up while he said it. Unfortunately, his lack of movement for however many hours spent sleeping on the front steps only made his leg more stiff than usual, and the young prince found himself unable to move, all the while biting back a sharp pain as he struggled to unbend his knees. Solo gave him an alarmed look, dashing the last few feet separating himself and his brother.

'What's wrong Duo?' He asked, his voice slightly deeper than Duo remembered it. Duo offered his brother a happy grin despite himself, trying to ignore the pins and needles now running through his leg.

'My leg is a little stiff.' He replied lightly. 'I've been waiting here for ages! What took your guys so long?'

'Weary soldiers don't like to run Duo.' Solo replied obviously, but held out his hand for his brother to take. Duo grabbed it firmly, helping himself onto his feet while carefully masking the protesting pain that came from his leg. Solo pulled him into a tight embrace, his chin resting on Duo's head, muttering how much he had missed his young brother. Duo returned the sentiments, making sure to keep what he said controlled. He did not want to upset Solo so early upon his return.

'Father is waiting inside.' The young prince said at length, finally pulling away from his brother's hug. 'You should go see him.'

'I think I will.' Solo grinned, ruffling Duo's steadily growing hair as he passed. 'Hair's growing long Duo.'

'Better looking than yours!' Duo called after his brother, receiving only a slight shake of the head from Solo. Still grinning, he turned back to the other soldiers, all of whom bowed respectfully as they passed, obviously eager for some food and rest. Duo did not hold them, his interest fixated entirely on a certain blue-eyed soldier.

Heero was at the back of the party, marching with carefully measured steps. Duo frowned, knowing that the soldier was injured. Heero walked over in silence, his eyes locked with Duo's gaze but gave nothing away. Duo watched on, standing as still as a statue as he waited for his friend to come. Finally, Heero stopped a foot away from Duo, they gazes still fixed together.

'Welcome home Heero.' Duo said at last. A moment followed where neither moved nor spoke, but both just continued to stare at each other.

Suddenly, Heero reached forward and pulled Duo to him. He was easily a head taller than Duo now, almost as tall as Solo, although marginally more stocky. His muscles were firm, and his embrace was warm despite his wind-chilled body. Duo returned the embrace, a deep sense of relief flooding through his body as if until that moment, his mind had been subconsciously pondering on the reality of Heero standing before him again. But this hug confirmed it. Heero was back, and with enough strength remaining after his long march home to hug Duo with such fervor, as if he too had been lost in the thought that perhaps they might never see each other again.

'You're thinner.' Heero whispered against Duo's hair, his voice lower than Duo ever heard it.

'A few things happened.' Duo replied, his voice muffled as he spoke into Heero's tunic. 'But it's all right now. You and Solo are finally back.'

'Yes.' Heero smiled. 'Tadaima.'

'Okaeri.' Duo murmured back unconsciously, his mind too busy rejoicing over Heero's return.

Perhaps if he had been paying attention, he would have noticed the dark look that passed momentarily across Heero's features.

Part 7

'You are an idiot.' Heero growled.

'Why thank you.' Duo replied sarcastically, pouting as he sat down on the edge of his bed, pants removed. Heero settled on the floor before him, staring at Duo's stiff leg in an attempt to figure out why it was not healing properly. Ever since their initial embrace at the entrance, Heero had been completely sour, apparently angry at Duo for not taking better care of himself. The young prince had been offended to say the least, although he could not come up with a decent retort, considering that his sickness and subsequent disability did arise from something that he could have easily avoided. But he was not going to admit it, even if he could not come up with a smart-alec remark. Heero seemed to take it in stride however, forcing the young prince to remove his pants so that he could inspect the said defected leg.

'You know...' Duo began, feeling bored. 'I've had three other doctors gawk at my leg, and they all said the same thing: it will get better with time.'

'I don't trust their judgment.' Heero replied absently, hands moving down Duo's leg, checking for abnormalities. 'And don't say gawk.'

'Fine, they examined my leg.' Duo made a face. 'You don't trust anyone do you Heero?'

'I trust you.' The soldier said carelessly. 'What herbs did you take when you were sick?'

'Aw, you know I love you too.' Duo cooed unnecessarily. 'They gave me some really bitter tasting soup and some of those herbs over there.' The prince nodded at his desk, on which sat a small jar of dried, green herbs. 'Why?'

Heero did not answer as he rose, striding quickly over to the table to remove the jar and tip a few leaves into his hand. He stared at it for a moment, eyes narrowed, as if hoping to burn a hole through it. Duo gave him a curious look.

'What?'

'Where's that "bitter soup"?' Heero asked, tipping the leaves back into the bottle.

'The maids usually bring it up.' Duo shrugged. 'I'm not sure what it was, but it tasted horrible, but the doctors said that sugar won't make it any better. Why?'

'Call the maid.'

'Why?'

'Don't ask questions.'

'Fine.' Duo sighed, before raising his voice to call loudly enough for the maid in the hallway outside to hear. 'Maid! I am ready to take my medicine now!'

There was the sound of a girl murmuring her assent before walking off to retrieve the said medicine. Heero remained silent, his blue eyes angry. For a moment, Duo thought the soldier was still angry at him, and was about to voice his retort when the maid arrived with his medicine. He nodded towards the table, and she placed it down carefully there before making a small curtsey and leaving, closing the door behind her. Heero walked over to the door after, snapping the locks shut before moving back towards the table, inspecting the soup with narrowed eyes. Duo watched, confused, as the soldier picked up the bowl, holding it under his nose and making a face of disgust before placing it back down on the tray.

'Smells horrible doesn't it?' Duo asked dully. 'Believe me, it tastes worse.'

'Somebody's tried to poison you.' Heero murmured quietly, settling down on the floor before Duo once again. 'It may have been an accident, because it is a common mistake. Assuming that your were sick enough, then this combination may have been the most effective way the doctors knew how of treating you. But it is not the only way, and I'm willing to bet that at least one of your doctors had it in mind to disable you.'

'What?' Duo asked, alarmed. Heero shot him a sharp look, reminding Duo to keep his voice down.

'Every herb has different properties.' Heero began rhetorically. 'Some are beneficial for a person's health, and some are not. But it is not as black and white as that. Just because two herbs are good at calming fevers and curing sicknesses does not mean that they will be wholly beneficial for your health if you take them in conjunction with each other.'

'So then, I took two different medicines that were bad for me?'

'Individually, they would have been good for you, but together...' Heero paused for a moment. 'Not many people know the full properties of herbs and medicines. It is not required, because one expects to receive accurate judgment from one's doctors, and most of the time, one would get it. However, even doctors are not familiar with all the properties of herbs, and many will cause deaths in their lives because of it. Doctors are always experimenting, and they will make judgments depending on their results. It is a logical choice, to choose a life over a leg, or perhaps an arm. But it can be avoided, and that's what bothers me.'

'So, I'm going to lose my leg forever?' Duo asked, feeling suddenly very numb. Heero met his alarmed look, his own blue eyes softening slightly.

'I frightened you.' He murmured softly. 'But don't worry, it is not permanent. You can still feel it when I touch your leg, and that means it's not beyond saving. Don't take any more of that medicine the doctors have prescribed for you. I'll find you something else to take, which will speed up your leg's recovery. You'll be weak and want to sleep more without those herbs, but I will not give you anything for that. You should rest when your body needs it, especially when you're still in convalescence. I will make you run around a bit. You won't like it, especially without those herbs you've been taking, but it has to be done.'

'Yes doctor Heero.' Duo grinned.

'I don't like doctors.' Heero muttered, his face showing every bit how much he meant it.

'Fine.' Duo pulled Heero back onto his feet. 'Thank you, Heero my buddy.'

'It's my duty to protect you, my prince.' Heero's serious face faded almost immediately after he said it, only to be replaced by a mournful one. 'I should not have been so eager to leave you like that Duo, I'm sorry. I promise I won't leave you again.'

'Oh, don't make it out like it's your fault.' Duo protested, resting a hand on Heero's shoulder. 'Duo Maxwell does stupid things, and they can only be blamed on Duo Maxwell and Duo Maxwell only.'

'If you say so, Duo.'

Part 8

As it turned out, everything Heero said was true, much to Duo's mixed pleasure and irritation. On the bright side of things, his leg was getting slowly better, and as time went by, the stiffness slowly dissipated. However, he was also extremely tired, and would often slip into unconsciousness despite himself. Heero followed him around everywhere, just to ensure that when the young prince did fall asleep, he was there to catch him and settle Duo suitably down somewhere to rest. That or he would bark in Duo's ear and startle the young prince into awareness, leaving Duo howling back in irritation while clutching his ear and trying to figure out what was happening.

The king and Solo were both concerned with Duo's sudden turn for the worst. Solo took to pacing around Duo's room at regular intervals while the king tried to talk Duo into revealing why he was no longer taking his prescribed medication. The doctors visited again, and they recommended what they had give Duo prior, offering only their shock at Duo's sudden rebellion. Duo did not mention a word of Heero's intervention despite his brother and father's anxiety; Duo trusted Heero completely and unconditionally, but he was not sure the king and his brother felt the same.

After the first two weeks, Duo's strength began to return again, and Heero reduced the amount of herbs he was taking yet again. He did start supplying Duo with a sweet-tasting tea in the mornings, which was supposed to improve his body's rebuilding abilities. Duo did not question Heero's treatment, only complained that the tea obviously had effects on his wakefulness, and that Heero should have given him some during his past two, drowsy weeks. Heero only shrugged and said that it was amusing to watch Duo fall all over the place. Normally, Duo would have been angry, but Heero had smiled so naturally when he said it that the young prince could not find it in himself to grumble. Heero hardly ever smiled, but Duo was glad the few times he did smile, it was for him.

By the end of the third week, Duo had almost full use of his leg again, and was feeling better than he had in ages. The young prince was ecstatic about being fit enough to ride again, and despite his father's protestations, ran off and dragged Heero out of sparring practice to go riding with him. Heero objected, claiming that Duo should not flaunt his fitness around, and that he was still in recovery, but the young prince would hear none of it.

'Lighten up will you Heero?' Duo laughed as they rode through an open meadow. 'I'm fine.'

'If you tire and fall off your horse, it won't be my fault.' Heero yelled, forcing his horse to catch up with Duo's regardless.

'I'm not fussed.' Duo grinned. 'Because I know you'll always catch me.'

Duo stopped eventually, his horse becoming much too wary from the mad sprinting to manage anything more than a light trot. Heero suggested they give their horses some resting space while Duo calms down from his excitement rush. The young prince had conceded, still grinning like a loon even when Heero pulled him off his panting steed.

There was nothing special about the place they decided to call their pit stop. The grass was just as long and prickly there as every other spot in the meadow, but for Duo, it felt like heaven. Lying their in the grass with Heero sitting next to him, Duo felt truly content and at peace.

'I wish we could always be like this.' The young prince murmured. 'With everything peaceful and the both of us fit enough to run around like crazy.'

'Correction.' Heero muttered. 'You were forcing your horse into a mad dash. I would rather believe that I had nothing to do with it.'

'You cured my leg.'

'I suppose that makes me the true perpetrator behind this impromptu excursion.'

'You said it!' Duo grinned, his violet eyes closing for a moment. In the background, the wind blew, ruffling the tall grass and tickling his arms, and some birds sang a merry tune as they flew by overhead.

Yes, Duo felt truly content.

Part 9

Routine returned again after that, almost as if it had never been disturbed. Heero went back to his guards training, but was sure to stay around Duo as often as he could. He still disappeared often without explanation, but it no longer seemed important. Duo felt sure that if Heero felt like telling him, then he would, and if he did not, then it was not Duo's business to pry. The young prince himself had his hands full with classes in both his native tongue and foreign languages (both of which were compulsory according to Solo), dancing classes, music lessons, training in arms and the few moments he had free, he had classes on beast care with Howard. Duo's days were soon reduced to waking up, having breakfast, going to classes, have lunch, go to more classes, have dinner, do some revision for the next day's class, sleep, and repeat. It was a most tedious cycle, and one which Duo loathed and made sure to complain to his father and brother about whenever he could. But both the king and the first prince were so busy with their own constant meetings and delegations and classes and all those other court politics that they hardly ever had time for Duo. There might have been a time when Duo would have used such moments to skip classes and go do whatever he felt like, but Heero had managed to drill responsibility into his him, and Duo found that he could no longer not attend class under good conscience.

Duo was soon introduced to many daughters and sons of rich and powerful lords and ladies. Solo insisted on a regular basis that it was vital Duo made friends with these children, for they mostly heirs of large provinces and areas, and it would be with them what the king so frequently busied himself having conferences with now. Duo had then quickly pointed out that Solo was to become king, and not him, to which his brother had shook his head and patted him most condescendingly on the head. The older brother did not explain anything, but the pat was more than enough to fuel Duo into making friends with sons and daughters of rich nobles, if not for anything else but to prove to his brother that he did not deserve that patronizing pat.

'You do realize that he's manipulating you?' Heero asked snidely during sparring practice one afternoon. Duo had responded by punching Heero in the face, or trying. He did not succeed, because Heero had always been much too fast and absurdly strong, but at least he had the satisfaction of kicking the young soldier in the shin whist Heero was still distracted. The blue-eyed boy proceeded to sulk for the rest of the afternoon, and spent the majority of the time between dinner and bed sparring by himself.

Duo quickly became popular in court. As Heero put it, he was a smiling simpleton who people could not help but find amusing. Solo had been kinder in saying that Duo had a certain charisma, and drew people to him unconsciously with his bright personality and innocent nature. Either way, Duo soon found himself with many friends amongst the nobles' children, and the lords and ladies adored the young prince who was always kind and friendly. But despite it all, Heero was still Duo's best friend, and the only person Duo trusted outside of his brother and father. Sometimes, he felt that he trusted Heero more than even he trusted the king and Solo. At least with Heero, he knew that everything he said was safe, and that nothing he uttered would be of consequence.

Besides Heero, Duo's other good friend soon became a girl called Hilde. Hilde was the only daughter of the lord and lady governing L2 in the north, and was a wild little thing who seemed to have more pride to protect than Duo. The first time Duo met her, she had been stuck in a tree in the gardens, but was refusing all help. The young prince finally managed to convince her to let him help her when he threatened to climb up and get stuck himself, leaving both of them in danger. The young girl had agreed, but only because "she could not stand the thought of endangering another person, even if he was an idiot servant who liked to play superhero". When she found out later that Duo was actually a prince, the young girl had been most embarrassed, but refused to apologize, insisting that Duo should act more like a pompous prince than an incompetent underling who had a thing with saving girls in trees. Duo chuckled, thinking just how alike the girl and Heero seemed to be.

Heero and Hilde did not get along however. The soldier had already heard the story of Duo climbing up a tree and rescuing her before he met the young lady, and immediately had it in his mind that Hilde was an idiot who should be thrown out of the castle for endangering Duo, and that Duo had been a bigger idiot for saving her. Duo was not sure why Hilde decided that she did not like Heero, but the cold glares Heero kept sending her way seemed to be reason enough. Hilde soon took to calling Heero the "obsessive soldier who had a much too keen a fixation on his prince's health", and much reveled in Heero's inability to taunt back because of his inadequacies in class. Heero had always kept a blank look through her taunting, but Duo could see how much it bothered the young man. When he asked Hilde why she always made fun of Heero, and if she could please stop it, the girl had responded almost shyly that she actually quite liked Heero.

'He's very protective of you, and would endure anything for you.' She explained. 'It's just unfortunate that he had such bad preconceptions of me before we met. I would have rather liked being his friend.'

Duo told the young soldier that, to which Heero responded with a shrug and continued with what he was doing. Hilde never did stop making jabs at Heero when they met, and Heero never did stop glaring at her. But Duo found that the words Hilde uttered were less sharp, and Heero's glare less deadly. They were friends, even if neither of them would admit it.

If asked, Duo would say that his other friend in court was Trowa, although it was rather one-sided, and barely counted as a proper friendship. For ages, Duo had conceded to the fact that Trowa had become mute soon after their initial meeting in Solo's study room. The brown-haired boy would watch him with that piercing glare and never once utter a single word, even when Duo asked for his opinion on something. In all honesty, Duo did not like Trowa much at all initially; the brunet boy gave him the chills. But it seemed that Heero and Trowa were very much good friends, or even if they were not, they respected each other, and over time, Duo came to realize just why Heero respected Solo's man so, and how similar both Heero and Trowa were. It was difficult for Duo to comprehend initially, with Heero always seeming like such a verbal person and Trowa such a total mute. But then he realized that Heero was ever only verbal around him, and only ever voiced his thoughts without restraints around Duo because he trusted Duo. Trowa was Solo's man, the person whom Solo would trust with his life, and Duo realized that Trowa would never betray his brother's faith, just like Heero would never betray his. Duo respected Trowa immensely, and even if the two of them seldom spoke to one another, or did anything together at all for that matter, Duo still considered Trowa a close friend.

However, with friends came enemies, and although Duo would rather believe he had no enemies in the court, it was obvious that there were people who disliked him. The young Lady Catalonia of Myra, grand daughter to the Count Dermail, was one example. The worst thing about it was that Duo had no idea why Dorothy despised him so. For a while, Duo had felt that his relationship with Dorothy, although no where near as close as his and Hilde's were, was not quite so bad that the young lady would feel the need to openly ridicule him.

The first time he met Dorothy, Duo thought that she was a rather sweet looking thing. Long, blond hair down to her waist, with a pair of bright, sky blue eyes. It was the first time Duo had ever seen somebody with blond hair up close, considering that the lightest he had ever seen previously was Solo's hair, which was only marginally lighter than his. Everyone else in the castle had brown hair of varying shades, and the only times he had ever seen such exotic hair was when conferences were to be held in the castle and foreign nobles came to participate. But those were so completely unrelated to him that Duo hardly ever paid them any mind. Regardless, Dorothy was the first person of importance that had blond hair, and Duo found it most beautiful. He did not let his manners slip so much as to gape at the girl's hair, but he did let his gaze linger for a moment on the waist-length hair before giving Dorothy a smile. The girl had returned his smile almost timidly.

The second time he met Dorothy, it seemed that the girl had somehow developed a great sense of loathing for him between then and that last time they met. Her blue eyes were cool, her gaze impervious as she observed him from the other side of the hallway. Duo greeted her as court etiquette required of him, which was to walk over and take her hand in his and kiss the back of it while murmuring his greeting. Dorothy had allowed it, as her years of mannerisms no doubt dictated, but the gesture was automatic and formal, something which happened with not an ounce of feeling. When the girl smiled and greeted him back, Duo was most surprised by the bite in her tone. For the rest of the visit, the girl's obvious scorn for him did not falter once, and Duo could only wonder just what had gone wrong. When she finally left a week later, he instantly ran off to find Heero, asking the young soldier for his thoughts.

Heero's immediate reaction was to ask if the girl had hurt Duo in any way, and to mutter to himself under his breath about being busy with training and unable to guard Duo. The young prince quickly waved his arms around to indicate that he was fine, and that Dorothy had merely snubbed him, for lack of a better word.

'I just don't understand why.' Duo sighed. 'I don't think I've done anything to offend her.'

'I did not hold Lady Catalonia in very high esteem.' Heero said coldly. 'Even less now that she's offended you.'

'Heero...' Duo gave Heero a tired look. 'You're not helping.'

'My apologies.' Heero sounded anything but apologetic. 'Perhaps she has caught wind of some unflattering gossip. Perhaps you should stop having so many sordid affairs.'

'You're a real jerk Heero.' Duo sighed. 'Seriously.'

'I have no idea.'

Duo's relationship with Dorothy only got steadily worse with time, and soon, it was not only Duo and Heero who noticed it. Solo and Trowa watched with blank looks on their faces, unwilling to say anything for fear of destroying the good relations between their family and Count Dermail's, and to infuriate Duo further. For the best part, Duo ignored Dorothy and did his best to avoid her when she came to visit. But considering that he was the second son of the Maxwell family, and also Dorothy's age, that proved a bit difficult.

'This is only marginally annoying.' Duo sighed, pouring himself a glass of ale.

'What doesn't kill us makes us stronger.' Heero said in a wise voice, tugging the glass out of Duo's hand and draining half the cup. Duo gave Heero a look, pulling the glass back and downing the rest of it in one gulp. 'You shouldn't drink too much or you'll tip over.'

'I drink less than you.'

'I'm older.' Heero pried the glass out of Duo's hand once again, filling it to the rim before gulping down all of it. Duo gave Heero a disgusted look.

'You're a total alcoholic.'

'I rarely drink.' Heero shrugged. 'Let me drink my fill when I do.'

'Sure, sure.' Duo sighed, resting his head in his arms. 'I just don't know what to do about Dorothy. Her family comes over so often, and I'm expected to spend time with her, but she hates me and I don't know why.'

'Perhaps you're thinking about this the wrong way.' Heero offered. 'Perhaps she doesn't dislike you so much as she dislikes who you associate with.'

'Wow, and that helps me so much.' Duo groaned. 'It wouldn't be so horrible if father did not make me spend time with her, but both of us are expected to "like each other" and build on our "relationship". Damn it, the only relationship we have is platonic hate on her part.'

Heero said nothing in response, and Duo knew that the interactions between himself and Dorothy would only get worse with time. He only hoped that it would not interfere with the affairs between the Alliance and Myra, all the while knowing full well that things were not going to be steady by the time both he and Dorothy grew old enough to take their part in politics.

Part 10

Duo was twelve when Solo became engaged to a foreign princess. Princess Relena of Sanq, a kingdom to the south of L4. Duo had never even seen the princess prior, so it was understandable that he reacted so explosively when his father announced it one sunny morning during breakfast. Solo's face was one of calm acceptance, and that only fueled Duo's heated argument. His father would hear none of it, and it remained that a foreign princess would soon take residence in their castle as Solo's wife, and an alliance would be formed between the Alliance and Sanq. In the end, Duo had stormed off from breakfast in a terrible mood, and did not calm down until the afternoon.

'It's unfair.' The young princess muttered, pacing back and forth in the gardens, while being watched by the ever-so diligent Heero Yuy. 'My brother does not love this woman, I do not know her, what strength is there in their marriage if our families are strangers?'

'Alliance.' Heero offered simply, his blue eyes fixed on Duo's agitated figure as he moved back and forth. 'With alliance comes protection, reinforcements, trade and other benefits. Sanq is a strong kingdom, but it is small. If the Alliance succeeds in forging an alliance between itself and Sanq, then both stands to benefit.'

'But what about Solo?' Duo gave Heero a frustrated look. 'What about Relena? Surely they would both be happier marrying people they love.'

'It's a marriage of great importance.' Heero shrugged. 'Love is irrelevant. You should know that.'

'The fact that I understand only makes this so many times worse.' Duo sighed, settling down on a stone bench even though his feet continued moving, stamping the grass. Heero gave him a soft look before sitting down next to him.

'This is how politics work.'

'Would I be sold off one day as well?'

'Possibly.' Heero shrugged. 'You will be married off to no commoner, you can be sure of that.'

'What if I don't want to be married at all?' Duo asked woefully. 'Would father merely arrange me to some girl and be done with it.'

'For the good of the empire sire.' Heero said stiffly.

'For the good of the empire.' Duo echoed.

Over the next few weeks, Duo saw very little of Solo. His older brother had always been busy before, but he was even more occupied now. His father was also constantly away, his plate full with politics. Even Heero seemed to be always busy, having only recently been promoted to the rank of captain. Duo guessed that he was supposed to be busy as well, but he found himself sitting uninterested in class and dozing off thinking about what he could be doing instead of what he was doing. As the days grew by, Duo found himself cutting class again, now fueled by boredom and the added incentive that he would not get in trouble, considering that there was nobody free enough to worry about him. Even Heero's reprimands began to fail, with the soldier constantly distracted with everything that had to be done.

'Why are you so busy anyway?' Duo asked, pouring Heero a glass of ale and shoving it loudly in front of the dozing young man. It was strange really, for Heero was never this tired, and even if he was fatigued, he would never show it. Heero was leaving openings, and that was something the blue-eyed soldier did not do. Duo frowned, but did not point out how vulnerable Heero was being.

'Work.' Heero answered sleepily, jolting slightly when the glass reached him. 'I don't think it's wise for me to drink anything. I'm already tired enough.'

'Is it that difficult to be a captain?' Duo asked, reaching for another glass.

'There have been a few problems.' Heero yawned. 'We have a spy somewhere who is giving out vital information. I've already informed the king and your brother, but they've been busy with the wedding arrangements, so I have to figure it out on my own.'

'We have a spy?' Duo looked aghast. 'Who would do that?'

'There are many incentives for a spy.' Heero said softly, his eyes half closed again. 'Some do it for the money, some do it because they are compelled to do it. It's hard to say what one particular spy would do it for, but it's hell annoying.'

Duo bit his lip. A spy in the castle! But that could be anybody.

'Do you have any leads?'

'A few.' Heero rubbed his eyes. 'I've been doing a lot of sniffing around, trailed a few people, but I haven't found anything conclusive yet.'

'Do you have any likely suspects?'

'A few.' Heero said again. 'But once again, nothing conclusive. We can only hope that nothing happens during the wedding.'

'Yea.' Duo murmured sadly. 'Let's hope.'

Part 11

It was one week before the wedding, and while everybody up at the castle was busy with various arrangements, Duo found himself bored and restless. It seemed that everywhere he looked, there was a busy maid or a glowering soldier. Heero was still fuming about the leak in their system, and was spending his days trying desperately to figure out who it was while training his men for the wedding ceremony. The actual ceremony was to be held in Sanq, and when Duo first caught wind of it, he thought that it would mean more peace on their behalf. There would be no need for hurried renovations or new servants if nobody new came, but it seemed that weddings held beyond their borders required just as much work. Perhaps if he had been included in all the rushing around him, then Duo would not have felt so left out. But instead, he was expected to continue attending his lessons, with not even a slap on the wrist if he failed to show up. Needless to say, the young prince's conscience decided to turn a blind eye and let himself go wild.

Not that Duo would ever let himself go properly wild. Heero would give him a lecture if he did, and the king and Solo would combine in their frowning, which made Duo feel queasy more for the guilt than their attempts at intimidating him. One did not spend a better part of their life with Heero Yuy and fear anything short of catastrophic.

Duo ran around in town again, or rather, he walked around and observed the bustle that was occurring even there. Merchants sprung up where he had never seen them before, and new and exotic looking items found themselves on the market. Duo was taken aback by the vast selections of gemstones of colors and hues he had never seen before, and books about foreign things he had never heard of. He did not allow himself to splurge however, he had more self control than that, but it did not stop him from hovering around the markets, eyes set on the stalls around him.

A shout from somewhere behind him was the only warning he received before Duo found himself shoved roughly out of the way, making way for a young boy his age. Duo frowned as the boy dashed off, wondering just how much that boy had managed to steal so far. It was not difficult to tell that the kid was a thief, and from the state of his clothing, he was a thief for good reason.

'That kid just stole your wallet.' An old man huffed angrily, limping over with the help of an old cane. 'Stole half of my ware before dashing off, stupid kid.'

'I know.' Duo shrugged. 'But I figured he needed the money more than I did.'

'You flaunt money so easily.' The old man scowled. 'Well, young master, some of us need gold to survive, and we don't get anywhere when we cut thieves slack.'

'I was not talking about your jewelry sir.' Duo said softly. 'No doubt you have a family to feed and a home to maintain.'

'Don't encourage thieves young noble.' The old man muttered, stalking off. 'This town is up to bursting point with vermin already and the last thing anybody needs is for you rich kids to be encouraging thieves by giving them your pocket.'

Duo watched the old man walk off, his young face creasing into a deeper frown as he wondered about the validity of that statement. The town was full of vermin? That seemed a bit harsh. There were plenty of street rats, but that was expected from a large city like L1, capital of the Alliance. Employment rates were high, business was rife, but that was only for those who were rich enough to afford a business. A merchant should not speak of such things so harshly, especially considering that a large percentage of wandering salesmen started out as street rats themselves.

Duo purchased himself some lunch with some money he had hidden in his sleeves. It was a trick the street kids had taught him once, to hide things in sleeves temporarily so that others could not get to it. The true art of holding things in sleeves however, was something Heero had explained to him a long time ago.

'Pockets are handy.' Heero said softly as they sat down on the floor before Duo's fire, a collection of pebbles and coins and small scrolls lying on the floor before them. 'But this action is very obvious, even when practiced.'

Heero demonstrated it by grabbing a handful of pebbles and playing around with it, moving it towards the pockets but still openly shuffling the pebbles around. Duo watched his toy with the pebbles, before placing them back on the floor before them, but Duo caught the flash of movement which indicated that Heero had slipped one in his pocket. If he had not been watching, he would not have seen it, but it seemed to prove Heero's point regardless.

'Sleeves are very valuable.' Heero continued. 'They're handy, and best thing is that it's very hard to catch.'

To demonstrate his point, Heero swiped his hand across the floor, his hand seeming to close momentarily over nothing, and then he was still again.

'You took something?' Duo asked, surprised.

'Did you see it?'

'I saw your hand close.' The young prince pointed. 'But I didn't see you take anything.'

Heero smiled slightly, picking up a handful of coins and pebbles and playing with it in his hand before dropping them all back onto the stone floor.

'Did you catch it that time?'

'Catch what?'

'Exactly.' Heero grinned enigmatically before rolling up his sleeves and letting fall a scroll, three pebbles and four coins.

Now that Duo thought about it, that trick of Heero's had been most...thief-like. He had not asked the young soldier about it when he had been taught, finding it a novelty skill more than anything else. But even back then, Heero had been skilled at stealing, and Duo only wondered why a soldier from the front-line would need to perfect such an uncanny ability.

Not that it mattered, after all, Heero had been traveling before he arrived at the castle. It was more than likely that Heero had picked up the skill along the way, just like Duo had learnt it off him. God forbid the day when Duo actually made use of that skill for a matter other than storing his money when visiting L1 town, but he did know it, and he had it refined down to an art form.

Now if only that pick pocket from earlier had been as professional.

Duo had not walked far before stumbling into a girl, and feeling a sigh escape his lips unbidden.

'You're about fifteen minutes late.' The young prince said clearly, pushing the girl gently so that she was standing properly before him. 'A fine gentleman in a blue shirt and gray pants emptied my pockets earlier.'

'Max!' Duo was surprised by the recognition in the girl's voice. He was lost for a moment, trying to remember when he had last used the alias Max, before the memory hit him and he grinned widely.

'Claire!' The young prince gave the girl a firm hug. 'It's been ages.'

'No kidding Max!' The girl grinned. 'Just stop showing up in town why don't you?'

'I got pretty damn sick.' Duo defended at once. 'Sorry, didn't mean to keep you waiting for so long.'

Claire was the daughter of a tavern owner with dark brown, almost black, hair and a pair of hazel eyes. Along with Derek, Claire had been one of Duo's few good friends in the town.

'Who was that guy from last time?' The girl asked timidly, and Duo was dumbfounded once again trying to remember who she was talking about. Then it finally hit him, and he grinned unconcernedly.

'That was my friend Heero.' He said brightly. 'Looks menacing as a tiger, but he's really a cuddly bunny on the inside.'

If only Heero had heard him say that, Duo thought snidely.

'He was rather frightening.' Claire shuddered. 'He had such scary eyes, and he had a sword! Derek and I didn't know what else to do but run away.'

'No matter Claire.' Duo grinned. 'No harm done.'

For the rest of the afternoon, Duo and Clare wandered around the streets of L1, catching up on gossip. For the better part, Claire talked while Duo listened, offering only small comments to indicate that he was listening. He could hardly tell Claire he was from up in the castle, but the young girl seemed to understand his secrecy and never bothered to ask. Max was Max, and there was hardly anything else that she needed to know about him save when he did when they were together. They bumped into Derek, a boy now a head taller than Duo with light, gray eyes and almond brown hair, near the docks, and spent the rest of their time sitting down on the boardwalk and watching the ships sail by. It had been a long time since Duo had last been here, and it felt so nice to just sit and listen to his friends talk while ships of all descriptions rolled by, carrying their rowdy crew with them.

'My pop was saying that the Prince Solo is getting married.' Derek said with a wistful sigh. 'Getting married to a princess far away, and the town's going crazy.'

'I saw that when I was walking around.' Duo smiled. 'There are so many merchants around, and I had never seen so much strange and utterly foreign merchandise in my life.'

'Yep.' Claire grinned. 'Lots of pretty jewelry, but we'll never get any. Too damn expensive for us! But Wufei's been running around stealing them.'

'Wufei?'

'The kid that stole your wallet earlier.' Claire laughed. 'Don't be angry at him though, he's just getting some money for the kids to live by. A lot of homeless people have sprung up recently, kicked out of their homes because richer folk has been moving in.'

'That's harsh.' Duo murmured.

'Not as harsh as your reprimand is going to be.' All three of them turned around in shock, Duo being the only one to recognize the voice but feeling a shiver run through him regardless. He was not supposed to be in town after all, and especially not in company of a tavern girl and the son of a fisherman.

'Heero.' Duo greeted timidly. From his place sitting down on the boardwalk, Heero looked even more intimidating than usual.

The young soldier was dressed in plain clothing, for which Duo was grateful, since being caught by a castle guard was the last thing he needed in presence of Derek and Claire. Still, the sword glinting at Heero's hip did not help, and his cool eyes commanded no less authority than any ranking officer could. The shocked and shuddering Claire and Derek on either side of Duo told him that they were definitely cowering.

'What brings you here Heero?' Duo asked uncertainly.

'Looking for you.' Heero answered stiffly. 'It was most unhelpful of you to just pick up and leave. I thought something might have happened to you.'

'I'm sorry.'

'I'm beginning to doubt the sincerity of those apologies as well.' Heero's face was blank, but that only seemed to make him all the more intimidating.

'Um...' Duo struggled for a moment, uncertain what else to say. 'This is Claire, and this is Derek. They're my friends.'

'They obviously take precedence before me.' Heero bowed his head curtly. 'You seem to be well, and your friends are clearly not thrilled to meet me, so I'll take my leave now.'

'Hey wait!' But Heero was already walking off, his shoulders stiff, his back unusually straight and his pace measured. There was no doubting from his stance that he was a solider, or at least had been one. Duo wondered dully if that was his intention.

'Like I said, your friend is scary.' Claire murmured.

'Is he a soldier?' Derek asked in a whisper. 'Because he definitely walks like one.'

'Heero's a little...stiff.' Duo said hesitantly, eyes still fixed on Heero's fast disappearing back. 'I...I better go actually, I'll see you guys again later.'

Waving a hurried goodbye, Duo sprang to his feet and chased after his quickly leaving friend, weaving through the crowds of people. Duo called Heero's name as he pushed his way through, but the soldier either did not hear him or ignored him, the latter of which seemed more likely.

'Heero!' Duo tried again, finally succeeding in pushing past a throng of people, only to find that Heero was nowhere in sight. He glanced around desperately, looking for any semblance of his good friend, but finding nothing. Duo groaned, panting slightly from his battle with the crowds, violet eyes still darting. For the first time ever, Duo wondered just how anybody could disappear so easily like that. 'Heero?'

'I thought you were having fun with your friends.' Came a cold voice behind him. Duo whipped around quickly, alarmed eyes slowly reacting to the shock of being surprised. Heero stood before him, face unusually blank, but his blue eyes dancing with some fiery emotion.

'How do you do that?' Duo asked, momentarily forgoing Heero's obvious displeasure in his own curiosity.

'Stealth is a key requirement for a soldier.' Heero said blankly.

'I don't think I've ever met a person more stealthy than you.' Duo said thoughtfully. 'You simply melt into the background when you want and appear again with a flash. It's really quite creepy.'

'That's because you're an imbecile.' Heero grunted, slipping past Duo to head in the direction of the castle.

'Oy! I know what that means now!' Duo growled indignantly, chasing after his soldier friend. Heero gave him a mock haughty look, his face still managing to appear blank, but Duo caught the slight twinkle in Heero's eyes and knew that all was forgiven. Huffing, the young prince wrapped an arm around his friend's shoulder, explaining to him all the while why he was not an imbecile.

Heero never did tell Duo why he was such an expert at stealth, despite being a soldier who rarely needed such a qualification. In the end, Duo made his own conclusions, and spent the rest of his life wishing he had not.

Part 12

'Must we braid it?' Duo asked, his voice slightly high-pitched in his attempt to crane his head around and see his hair. Heero gave him a blank look before tugging painfully on Duo's hair, the same bunch he was previously braiding, jolting the prince's head straight again. Duo let out a yip of pain, the sound coming out more indignant than anything else, but refrained from trying to turn around just in case Heero did it again.

'In case you have not noticed.' Heero said quietly, running a comb through Duo's hair once more. 'Your hair is fast reaching your waist.'

'So?' Duo asked irritably, staring at Heero through the vanity mirror before him. 'Doesn't mean we have to braid it.'

'You look like a woman Duo.' Heero sighed. 'No, more like a wild man. At least girls know when to tend to their hair.'

'Oh father, you better feel damn proud of yourself.' Duo growled under his breath, eyes rolling up to stare at the ceiling. 'Make your poor son suffer by letting his sadistic guard braid his beautiful hair.'

'The king is downstairs, Duo.'

'Shut up.' Duo shot back quickly. 'That's a minor detail which can be easily omitted.'

Solo's wedding ceremony was fast approaching, and both Solo and Duo, along with a large collection of guards, nobles, servants and minstrels, were to head out to Sanq. Normally, Duo would have been ecstatic, welcoming his first real trip from home in all the years he spent living in L1, but this trip came with one severe drawback: he had to look presentable.

Normally, presentable would have meant clean clothes and good manners. But in this case, presentable seemed to mean high-quality, stylish clothes that was awkward to move in, heavy, new shoes which were difficult to walk in, having his hair pulled into a braid instead of letting it fall, and all the while acting like he was enjoying it.

'Smile, Duo.'

'You suck Heero.' Duo grumbled, shooting the blue-eyed soldier behind him an evil glare. Heero smiled, his eyes glittering with mirth, as he fastened a violet strip of ribbon to the tail of Duo's braid. Curious, Duo reached behind him and tugged the long rope of hair forward, marveling at how neatly Heero had plated his hair, not letting a single hair escape the confines of the braid it was secured it. 'Where did you learn how to braid hair Heero?'

'A girl taught me.' Heero answered simply.

'Girl?'

'Yes.' Heero looked thoughtful for a moment. 'I can't remember who it was, but she had the longest hair, and she would always plait it and wind it into a bunch at the base of her neck. At one point, she must have taught me how to do it.'

'Hmm...' Duo stood up slowly, stretching his muscles and loosening his bones in one exaggerated motion. 'Feels weird to have it all in a braid.'

'I think it's more convenient.' Heero shrugged. 'Regardless, you have a meeting with Prince Solo and the King soon. Would you like me to attend also?'

'Trowa always attends.' Duo grinned. 'I don't see why you shouldn't.'

Breakfast with his father and brother passed as per usual. Solo had a resigned look on his face, an obvious mark of a reluctant groom. Duo knew that when they walked out of the chamber later, Solo's face would be all sunshine and happiness once more. The young prince's stomach clenched uncomfortably, his hands tightening around the knife and fork he held. Duo maintained his smile though, just like Solo would. He needed to be supportive, nothing would be gained if he was sour about the marriage. Marriage of convenience, Duo remembered Heero telling him that while sitting in the gardens, but his views now were not that much different from his thoughts then.

A warm weight settled on Duo's right shoulder, radiating peace and reminding Duo to relax. The young prince passed Heero a thankful glance, and the soldier's mouth twitched slightly into a smile before letting go and returning to his statue-like stance behind Duo's chair. Duo sighed, glancing at Solo once again. His brother was still looking grave, but his movements were steady, practiced. Duo bit his tongue to prevent himself from talking, before lifting his gaze to Trowa standing behind his brother's seat in a manner not unlike Heero's. The green-eyed man's face was blank, but years spent with Heero had taught the prince to pay attention to even the most minor of details. It was strange actually, Duo thought glancing away quickly before Trowa caught him staring, but Trowa and Heero acted ever so similar, even in their ways of showing displeasure. Trowa's jaw was stiff, locked, something he had often seen Heero do when the young soldier was angry. His stance was straight-backed and rigid, but it was not the way guards were usually expected to stand. Trowa was angry, disappointed, irritated and anxious all at once, but what was worse was that he was powerless to change anything. He wanted to help Solo, to save his prince some pain, but he could not. Duo bit his lip, silently sympathizing with his brother's man.

Their father spoke very little, which was uncharacteristic for the often boisterous man. He spent much of breakfast giving Solo his blessings, and agonizing over not being able to go to Sanq to attend the ceremony himself. Solo had voiced his forgiveness stiffly, his violet eyes mournful but accepting. The king had looked away quickly, something he rarely did, before attempting to joke with Duo. Duo was kind to the aging ruler, and joined in with his banter, despite how desolate his voice sounded. In the end, the two princes left their father's chamber with blank looks on their faces, each trying to hide their own pain.

'I'm sure Princess Relena is a distinguishing young lady.' Heero offered as they walked down towards the courtyard, the opposite route to which Solo and Trowa were taking. 'It is unfair to make judgments this early on.'

'This is not judgment Heero.' Duo sighed, his shoulders straight, a bright smile pasted on his face. 'This is submission.'

'Ad majorem gentis gloriam.' Heero said quietly. Duo paused, giving the soldier a curious look. Heero blinked once, apparently not having realized that he was speaking in a different language. 'It means "for the glory of the nation".'

'Oh...' Duo smiled slightly. 'You're full of surprises aren't you 'Ro? What language is that supposed to be?'

'It's Latin.' Heero shrugged before moving once again, alerting Duo to also start walking again. 'They use it occasionally on old scrolls.'

'Did you learn it with your scholar as well?' Duo asked meekly.

'Something like that.' Heero shrugged slightly, but his blue eyes glittered enigmatically with his cheer. Duo could not help it, his face broke into a smile as well, and this time, it was genuine.

Part 13

The trip to SanqKingdom was definitely not one Duo would classify as being entertaining, or pleasant, or anything remotely related to those two adjectives. The distance they were to cover would have taken a healthy man two days, maximum. But because of the sheer size of their party, Duo found himself sighing, wondering whether anyone would really notice if he was to disappear and never return. Should Duo ever pull a stunt like that (which he definitely would not), his first job would be to knock Heero out cold. The soldier spent the entire journey watching over Duo like a hawk, but never missing any unusual activities elsewhere in the group. Duo wondered dully whether Heero had some sort of strange animal sense while chancing a glance over the blue-eyed boy riding next to him, taking in Heero's taut posture. He looked like a willow reed bent almost to snapping point, just waiting to spring back. As if realizing that somebody was making fun of him, even if it was within somebody's mind, Heero glanced sharply over, tossing Duo a curious look. The prince shot Heero a bored expression, purposefully slouching just to prove his point. Heero shook his head once before turning back to the road, leaving Duo with a positively infuriating feeling of being snubbed.

Their travel plans should have alerted Duo to the duration of the trip. They would reach L4 by midday of their second day, and leave again on the morning of their third day, reaching their goal by the night of the fourth day, or so the plan went. Duo was feeling more than a bit dubious at the moment, with his uncertainties increasing every time he glanced around himself and saw the many carriages amongst their party. He silently prayed to whatever god there was that they did not encounter a ditch in the road.

By nightfall, they had reached a small village by the name of White Creek, a particularly misleading name, considering that there were no creeks or rivers at all nearby. There was a small lake however, something that appeared to be the town's pride and joy, considering its aesthetic value. The town itself was tiny, bunched in a cluster next to the lake. It was small wonder that the buildings closest to the lake were inns and taverns, with the exception of one small hut which almost looked as if it was going to pitch into the water it stood so close to. Duo pointed this out to Heero, who shrugged, apparently disinterested with something so trivial. However, Duo did catch his friend's gaze often straying back to the small hut. He smiled slightly, likening Heero with Scythe back home. They were both so damn curious, even if Heero would never admit it.

The town was alive with people though, mostly street vendors who had never seen such a large throng of people in their life. The small town's leaders, a family of nobles by the surname Jackson, hurriedly welcomed them to the town, and invited them to stay at their mansion in the heart of the town. Duo quirked an eyebrow when he heard this, whispering to Heero about the magicks of fitting a massive delegation into a small structure. Heero promptly smacked him over the head and told Duo off for being an idiot.

As a prince, Duo was expected to stay with the Jacksons, as was Solo. A few other nobles were to stay with them in the Jackson Mansion, but the remainder was to rest in the scattered inns around town. Duo sighed when he was sure nobody was looking, murmuring to Heero that he would rather stay at a noisy tavern somewhere, especially considering how the young Jackson daughter was eyeing him. Heero merely gave him another one of those looks that said without words "for the good of the nation", inducing a scowl upon the young prince's features. Thankfully, being Duo's closest guard, Heero was to stay with Duo, even though his presence did nothing to scare off the young Annabelle.

Annabelle was a fair two years older than Duo, but did not rise any higher than the young prince's chin. She had a head of curly black hair, large, brown eyes, and mannerisms so saccharine it almost reminded Duo of Dorothy when she was being particularly sarcastic. Throughout the entire dinner, she clung to Duo like an oyster to a rock, unrelenting while passing haughty looks to other ladies. Knowing that his family's reputation was on the line was the only thing that prevented Duo from throwing the girl off his arm, all the while muttering every offensive word he caught off Derek and Claire. Instead, Duo maintained his well-practiced smile and spoke to the young lady pleasantly, although making sure to be as formal as he could possibly be, hoping that his distant words would clue Annabelle into leaving him alone. Unfortunately, he had no such luck.

He glanced at Heero a few times, pleading silently to his young guard every so often when no one else was watching. Heero's blue eyes became cold, his posture stiff, but he did nothing. Duo felt most betrayed at that, despite knowing that there was little Heero could do. Thankfully, the soldier finally managed to steal him about an hour after dinner, insisting that "his prince had a long day ahead of him, and must rest early to avail the headache he acquired during the trip". Annabelle had appeared most put out, but released the young prince at last. Duo bid the young lady goodbye courteously before walking off with Heero, all the while making sure that his pace was even and slow. It would not do for him to dash from the chamber, even if he had never felt more like running in his life.

'Frightening.' Duo muttered as Heero led him to his temporary room. 'Absolutely frightening.'

'She seemed a nice lady.' Heero said evenly, with absolutely no distinct hint of sarcasm. Startled, Duo turned to stare at him incredulously, only to be met by smoldering blue eyes. He caught on then, turning away and making sure to keep his face neutral.

'About as nice as they come.' The young prince muttered.

Duo's guest chamber was on the second floor, with a vague view of the lake. There was a single large bed in the room, with rich hangings and sheets. Aside from the bed, there was a beautifully carved table sitting in the center of the room, along with matching chairs and an expensive candlestick holder. Several paintings adorned the walls, most of which seemed to feature mountains and river scenes.

'I thought you were supposed to stay with me.' The young prince murmured, sitting down on the edge of the bed. 'I don't see your bed anywhere.'

'I stay with you in that I will be staying in the mansion.' Heero answered as he bolted the lock on the door, before turning around to inspect the room with narrowed eyes. It was an action that Heero always took, and over time, Duo had come to ignore it. But this was the first time Duo had been out of the castle, and Heero's thorough searching seemed to take on a whole new meaning. Remembering how the blue-eyed boy had quickly insisted against what he obviously believed in back in the corridor, Duo swallowed slightly and watched his friend through uncertain violet eyes. When Heero finally finished with his searching, he walked over and sat down beside Duo on the bed, his shoulders loosening with a sigh.

'You don't need to worry.' He said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. 'This room is private, and there was nobody back in the corridor.'

'Which is why you're speaking in such undertones.' Duo murmured back, his voice equally soft. Heero grinned, his blue eyes glittering with mirth.

'I just want to make you aware of the fact that the walls have eyes and ears.' Heero shrugged, raising his voice back to normal speaking levels as if to prove it. 'I have never been to Sanq before, but I am willing to speculate that their castle contains secret tunnels.'

'To spy on people?' Duo asked incredulously. 'To watch what happens to guests once they drop their propriety?'

'Exactly that.' Heero sighed. 'If you were to give your daughter away to another country, would you not want to be certain that you are making the right decision? Often in politics, people are not lucky enough to meet the person they are to marry beforehand, so how would you make an accurate judgment of their character?'

'You mean people are going to be peeking through the walls to see if Solo likes to pick his nose or not?' Duo asked with a laugh.

'People will be peeking through the walls to see if Solo dislikes the arrangement as much as their daughter, to see if Solo is whispering to Trowa about murdering the princess, to see if Trowa is busy grinding up poisons for the prince of Sanq so that he never wakes again.'

'My brother would do no such thing!' Duo stood up and turned on Heero in a rush, his braid whipping around, smacking into his side painfully. But he ignored it as he stared down into Heero's blue eyes, daring the soldier to say it again. Heero's eyes did not change, his expression fixed as he stared back patiently, like a mother telling her child about the falsities of fire-breathing dragons and horses with wings.

'Calm down Duo.' Heero said at length. 'I am certain your brother has no such intentions, but that does not change the fact that it still stands.'

'Don't say such horrible things.' Duo growled. 'It is not amusing, and as far from the true as any statement can possibly be.'

'You're taking things totally out of proportion.' Heero scolded, standing up quickly to tower over the younger boy. It was the first time that Duo ever feared Heero, and standing there, trying his hardest to hold his own against his best-friend, Duo wondered just when Heero had grown so much taller than him, and so frightening. At length, the young prince looked away, feeling seething hatred flood through his veins. Hatred not for Heero, but for anybody who could have possibly given Heero the idea that Solo would do such terrible things.

'You're the one who said that this marriage was one out of convenience.' He murmured, eyes fixed on the stone floor below him. 'Solo would not do anything to compromise that fact.'

'He wouldn't.' Heero's voice was soft, but still, Duo refused to look at him. The young prince waited for him to continue, but Heero seemed to feel that he had said enough. Duo felt a warm brush against his shoulders as Heero walked by, his footfalls surprisingly light as he walked away. There was the crunch as the bolt was released, and Heero excused himself the way guards were expected to, before closing the door quietly behind himself.

Duo continued to stand there, violet eyes never leaving the stone floor.

Part 14

They set off again early the following morning. L4 was only just a bit more than half a day's ride from White Creek, a fact that Duo took to heart as he forced himself to kiss Annabelle's hand before biding the rest of her family goodbye. Heero had resumed his place by Duo's side, but the two had hardly said anything since their conversation the previous night. Duo was still angry and hurt that somebody could accuse his brother of such things, coupled by his lack of understanding as to why anybody would suggest such things. The marriage was something which would benefit both the SanqKingdom and the Alliance, so it seemed only reasonable that none from either party tried to ruin that fact. So why would Heero suggest such horrible things, unless he was simply trying to prove a point. Duo scowled as he climbed onto his horse, joining the throng of leaving people. He thought Heero had more tact than that.

The ride to L4 was almost as uneventful as the ride to White Creek. There was a section where they had to travel across a stone bridge which spanned across a wide gulf, on the bottom of which a small sliver of a river could be seen. Duo frowned as they crossed, not liking the situation at all. The bridge was wide, but there was no support or railings, and the young prince could only wonder how such a tremendous structure had ever been erected to begin with. Normally, he would have asked Heero, but seeing as they were not speaking to each other...

'Please be careful.' Heero murmured to his right, his horse tottering dangerously close to the edge to give Duo more space. 'It would hurt if you fell.'

'I'm not stupid Heero.' Duo growled back. 'I know it would hurt.'

'Try to stay more in the middle.' Heero glanced over the edge carelessly, not seeming to comprehend the distance between himself and the river under the gulf. 'I don't think we can pull you out if you fall.'

'Do you make it your job to irritate me?' Duo scowled, purposefully moving more to the left. Heero looked alarmed, reaching over immediately to tug Duo's horse's reins, steering the horse back into the center of the bridge.

'I said some nasty things last night.' He said desperately, his blue eyes fearful. 'But please don't take it out on yourself.'

'Who said I'm doing that?' Duo asked, giving Heero an icy glare.

'Duo, you almost sent your horse and yourself off the bridge!'

'I'm not an idiot!' He seemed to be saying that a lot. 'I know how not to fall off a bridge.'

'I'm sorry.' Heero apologized, his grip unrelenting on both their horses' reins. 'Please Duo. You can punch me into the ground for what I said later, just concentrate on crossing properly right now.'

'That's what I'm trying to do.' Duo tore the reins out of Heero's grasp with a snarl before urging his horse ahead, wanting to cross the bridge as fast as he could. 'And don't think I'm going to pass up on the chance to smash you into the floor either.'

He was not really going to do that. It was more anger that made him utter those words then anything else, and that anger was not even supposed to be directed at Heero. But the soldier was there, and he had been the one to suggest things, and Duo just felt so angry that he could not help from taking up on Heero's offer. However, when they finally reached L4 by sunset, he had all but completely forgotten it.

L4 was a grand metropolis more modern and densely populated than L1. The city itself was only half of the size of L1, but the abnormally tall buildings more than made up for it. Unlike L1, L4 had the benefit of being near the ocean. As their party passed by the docks, Duo felt his childish curiosity crawl back, and he suddenly wanted nothing more than to go running along the docks, jumping through the rock pools and dashing through the golden sand. The sea breeze surrounded him, mingled with the sound of seagulls cawing overhead, further fueling Duo's desire to act like a child. Unfortunately, he had dignity and image to maintain, but that did not stop him from staring woefully at the sea as they continued their way into the heart of the city.

The ruling family of L4 was the Winners. Duke Winner, Lady Winner, their nine daughters and their one and only son Quatre Winner. It must have been a strange twist of nature, for the duke had black hair, and his wife sleek, chestnut brown hair not unlike Duo's. However, every one of their children had hair the color of dried hay. When Duo first saw them, his manners faltered, allowing him a moment spent gawking as the youngest Winner extended his hand in greeting. He recovered himself soon enough, and Duo took the hand with much embarrassment. Quatre had laughed, conveying to Duo in a whisper that he got it all the time.

'We're all weird.' Quatre joked as he led Duo into the WinnerCastle (after an initial moment spent waiting for all the others to pass so as to avoid being trampled). 'Nobody understands why! It's the same with our eye colors as well, but I suppose it's all right since father has green eyes, which is almost blue.'

It was true quite true that all the Winner children also had sky blue eyes, despite the set of green and brown eyes that their parents bore. In an imitation of checking, Duo stopped Quatre in the hallway to peer obviously into his eyes. Quatre laughed, prodding Duo lightly in the forehead, causing the young prince's eyes to cross momentarily. That seemed to amuse Quatre even more, for he started laughing all over again.

'No, you're not easily amused at all.' Duo shot dryly as they began walking again, Quatre still chuckling beside him.

'My sisters make sure to tell me at least eighteen times a day, twice for each of them.' Quatre grinned. 'How old are you, my prince?'

'Call me Duo.' Duo smiled. 'I'm twelve.'

'I'm fourteen.' Quatre grinned, his blue eyes sparkling with mirth. 'Kind of difficult to believe that I'm the older one here isn't it?'

Quatre Winner was a fun and constantly hyperactive person around Duo, something which Duo enjoyed immensely. But Quatre seemed to have as many personalities as he did sisters, for when he spoke to his father, it was a quieter Quatre showing great respect, and likewise when he conversed with Heero, his attitude changed so dramatically, Duo would not have believed it had he not seen it himself. It intrigued Duo to no end, wondering whether the boy was really a hyperactive person who controlled himself when need arose, much like Duo himself. Somehow, Duo doubted it, and it was not until that night when he and Heero were sitting inside the guest room alone that Duo learnt some semblances of why.

'Winner is an empath.' Heero said quietly after completing his mandatory check of the room. 'He probably does not know it himself, but he changes his attitude to fit with the people he's associating with. Because you are naturally a cheerful and hyperactive person, Winner assumed the same around you. But because I tend to be more reserved, he is likewise quieter around me.'

'That seems a far stretch to base your theory on.' Duo muttered, falling backwards onto the bed.

'I'm a soldier.' Heero replied stiffly. 'My job is to assess and draw conclusions as quickly as possible from the information provided. I have also concluded that Winner can sense particularly strong emotions, such as when I purposefully thought of something angry around him, and he became more reserved and slightly fidgety. Empaths are rare, but that does not mean they don't exist.'

'If you say so.' Duo sat up slowly. 'So, is Quatre dangerous? Is he plotting our deaths so that he can run along and marry Relena of Sanq instead?'

'I have not retracted my promise, nor do I intend to.' Heero murmured, moving to stand directly in front of Duo as the prince pushed himself into a sitting position. 'I am always rude to you Duo, always speaking my mind, it's a bad habit of mine. But I am willing to pay my penance.'

'You speak like a caught murderer awaiting the death sentence.' Duo looked away, once again unable to look Heero in the eye. Perhaps if he looked away for long enough, then Heero would leave, just as he had the day before. But it seemed that the young soldier was adamant today, for what seemed like an age passed, and still Heero remained standing there, waiting for Duo to punch him across the face.

Duo frowned. Heero said that he was always rude around Duo, but he was honest about things. That was what separated Heero from everybody else -- a person who was brave enough to look Duo in the eye and call him an idiot. It seemed that for as long as Duo could remember, Heero had always been saying things that nobody else would dare to say. Even Solo has never once called Duo stupid, although that may have been because of how seldom they spoke to one another. It suddenly struck Duo as strange that his brother, although his blood relation, seemed so very distant to him when compared to Heero. In fact, Duo could think of no other person who he was closer to than the soldier with blue eyes and wild, short, brown hair.

So why was he suddenly so passionate about defending his brother from the very thing that Heero had long grown used to doing? Had Heero been speaking about somebody else, then would Duo have responded so violently? It suddenly dawned that Duo was only defending his brother on the basis of principle, and while it seemed the moral and logical thing to do, was really quite insignificant when compared to the person standing before him. What was his brother's honor when compared to his best friend, especially when Duo knew that Heero would scarce share that information with anyone save Duo? The answer was blatantly obvious.

Absolutely nothing.

Duo stood up quickly, surprising Heero who stumbled back in a hurry, just fast enough to avoid the punch that the young prince sent his way. Not that he was probably intending to, Duo thought wryly, smiling slightly as his fist came grazed Heero's cheek, but old habits died hard. Heero's body reacted to all threats the same way when he was surprised, which was exactly the action the young prince was hoping to get out of his friend.

'I'm sorry.' Heero apologized quickly, straightening himself as he recovered from Duo's surprise attack. 'I was not intending to dodge it.'

'When was the last time I actually "punished" you Heero?' Duo asked with a smile. 'In all the years you've been around me, have I ever truly treated you like an inferior? You said it yourself: I do consider you a friend.'

'Actually, I said I considered us friends.' Heero corrected blandly, although the smile on his face spoke of his obvious contentment. Duo grinned, closing the distance between them to sling his arm tightly around Heero's neck. The soldier stooped slightly, bending his knees in an obvious attempt to equate his height with the young prince's. Duo made a face when he saw this, shoving Heero away with a mock irritated air.

'Damn your height 'Ro.'

'Pardon my ability to grow tall, my prince.' Heero grinned snidely. 'Shame you have to stay so stumpy.'

'Stumpy?' Duo asked indignantly, drawing himself quickly up to full-height to prove otherwise. Heero smirked, walking over and indicating at the obvious height difference between them. Duo frowned, before reaching over and grabbing Heero's shoulder, dragging him over by forcing him to bend his knees. 'Ya know, I think I like it better when you're short.'

'You would wouldn't you?'

Part 15

They left again early morning, after a most exquisite breakfast provided by the Winners. Duo sat next to Solo at the table, but even still, they spoke very little to each other. Instead, Solo maintained the conversation with Duke Winner, while Duo chatted with Quatre, the both of them trying their hardest not to burst out laughing. It was not an overly formal occasion, with just the Winner family, Solo, Duo, and Heero and Trowa, both of whom did not eat but took their usual positions behind the two princes' seats. Duo wondered how Heero could bear it, always standing there, still as a statue, while everyone around him talked and enjoyed good food. Heero would just call it disciple if Duo asked, something he was required to do. Somehow, Duo did not think friends treated each other thus.

Not that the appearance of friendship came before that of prince and guard.

The rest of the journey was about as interesting as their previous days of traveling, with the exception that a better part of the trip was spent traveling near the ocean. At first, the ocean breeze and view amused Duo, but the continuous gusts twisted Duo's hair coated it in a sticky layer of salt. The majority of it was still braided, but the strands themselves were all twisted. It bothered the prince, not because he thought he must look horrible, but because it stuck to his face at the strangest moments, and whipped into his face with a harsher bite than previously.

'I need a bath.' Duo told Heero with a dismayed look at his braid. 'Stupid hair, maybe I should just cut it and be done with it.'

'Why do you keep your hair long?' Heero asked, his voice conveying genuine curiosity.

'I don't know.' Duo shrugged. 'I think it's because father says it reminds him of my mother. I can't remember my mother, but father says she used to have long hair, the same color as mine.'

'Oh.'

They rode non-stop until mid-day, when they paused to have a hurried lunch before continuing on their way again. Duo did not have much of an appetite, a condition which he blamed mostly on all the riding they had been doing. Heero claimed that riding was exercise, and took a great deal of energy, insisting all the while that perhaps Duo should join one of the nobles in their carriages. The prince quickly declined, making sure to keep all complaints to himself after that. Not that it mattered, since Heero noticed anyway, but at least had the decency not to mention anything about riding in carriages.

'At least I have fresh air out here.' Duo explained, despite not having been asked anything. 'That and carriages make me feel frail.'

They did not stop by a town that night. Duo's geography skills were not all that brilliant, but his vague knowledge was still enough to tell him that L4 was basically the edge of Alliance soil. Heero soon remedied any confusion Duo might have had, informing the prince that there were no towns between Sanq and L4.

'Back when Sanq and the Alliance were still hostile with each other, this gap between them mostly served as a battleground. This was a century ago, but it's not long enough to not deter civilians from living here.'

'How morbid.' Duo sighed.

He spent the night outside, sleeping near one of the many campfires. Heero dutifully took to sleeping next to him, although Duo hardly considered what the soldier did to be sleeping. Instead of lying down, Heero sat with his body bent forwards, leaning against his sword, which seemed to be the only support that prevented the soldier from toppling forwards. The braided prince did ask Heero to sleep properly, but his friend refused, insisting that this was how he always slept out in the open. Somehow, Duo had no problems with believing that.

They set out again early morning, after a quick breakfast which few people ate. They were all weary and sore from sleeping in such an unconventional fashion, although Duo reasoned that some were probably more sore than others. He himself, was feeling particularly rigid, with a few of his bones seeming to have dislocated themselves during the night. It made riding difficult, but still, Duo refused the carriages. Heero seemed to have no problems at all, despite his strange fashion of sleeping and his lack of breakfast. But even if Heero he was in any way uncomfortable, Duo had no doubts that he would not hear anything about them.

'Apple.' That was the only word Duo received before an apple flew over, narrowly avoiding his face. The prince made an unimpressed face at his friend riding next to him, wiping the apple quickly using a sleeve before taking a bite.

'You probably made it more dirty with that wiping.' Heero said thoughtfully. 'Your clothes aren't exactly clean.'

'I haven't exactly had the time to change.' Duo sighed woefully. 'Oh how I hate traveling.'

'This is your first time.'

'Shame, I hate it already.' He took another bite of his apple before offering it to Heero. The soldier instantly refused, insisting that he was not hungry. The prince ended up forcing the apple on him anyway, and Heero took a large bite, albeit reluctantly.

'This constitutes abuse.' Heero said blandly. 'How sad, we have an abusive friendship going.'

'An abusive friendship isn't nearly as bad as starving yourself.' Duo grinned. 'Eat your apple Yuy.'

'Yes sir.'

They reached Sanq by early evening, just as the sun was about to set. Duo watched with awe as they entered through the city's wide, open gates, fascinated by the tall buildings around him. He had been fascinated by the tall buildings in L4, but Sanq was even more amazing. There did not appear to be such things as one or two storied buildings, with the majority of the structures sitting at around four stories. But what was most amazing was the royal family castle in the center of the town, a gray structure with sharp towers that seemed to touch the sky.

The town itself opened its arms in welcome, with festivities already at a peak. Duo found himself instantly attracted to all the various shows playing around the town, wanting to know what kind of stories were being told. No doubt it would be very different from what he heard at home, or at least an alteration of. The only times Duo had ever heard stories was when Heero or Howard decided to tell him something. Otherwise, the rest of Duo's knowledge came from books and scrolls. It was strange that the young prince had never heard a full minstrel's song or finished watching a puppeteer's show, and Duo wondered from time to time why he was never present to watch such a performance to the end, especially since there was always at least one minstrel around the castle back home at all times, their playing only increasing when foreign nobles came to visit. How he managed to unconsciously avoid them, he had no idea.

'Do you think I can watch a puppet show?' He asked Heero, his voice barely masking his excitement.

'Yes. They are bound to have some show up at the castle.'

They were met with four soldiers at the castle gates, all of which bowed courteously before letting them through. In the courtyard, they dismounted their horses (as elegantly as they could after such a long ride), and accepted the welcome of both the prince and king of Sanq. There seemed to be something about people with blond hair and their fathers not having it, Duo thought wryly as he shook hands with the king and prince. The king had brown hair of only a slightly lighter shade than Heero's, but the prince Milliardo Peacecraft, had long, platinum blond hair down to his waist. Duo gave Heero a glance when he was sure no one else was looking, asking the soldier without words why Milliardo was allowed to wear his hair down when Duo was not. The soldier took a moment to cast Duo a blank look before sighing and touching his forehead in a pained manner.

They were immediately invited to dinner, although Duo would have rather had a bath before anything else. Regardless, he joined the Peacecrafts, his brother and the other nobles in dinner. It was only when he finally entered the dining chamber that he saw Relena Peacecraft.

Princess Relena appeared to be no older than Duo, with blond hair down to her waist in a fashion that was not unlike her brother's. The girl's eyes were a light, sunflower blue, displaying her obvious nervousness despite her steady expression. Duo felt his stomach clench again as he wondered whether this girl had any ideas what marriage even meant. Well, she definitely knew what marriage was from her parents and brother no doubt, but that did not change the fact that she was probably only twelve and about to marry a man who was almost double her age.

Both Relena and Solo sat together during dinner, and while they made some small talk, it all appeared rather awkward to Duo. Around the table, Duo saw the other nobles watching, and wondered if they saw what he did.

'My sister is always nervous.' Milliardo observed from his place next to Duo. 'But she is still young, so I suppose it isn't all that unusual.'

'She looks no older than twelve.' Duo offered.

'Thirteen actually.' Milliardo smiled. 'Thirteen and already married, now what does that make of me I wonder?'

'Her old, companion-deprived brother?' The violet eyed prince suggested with a smile. Milliardo let out a bark of laughter, surprising the noble sitting on his other side. He apologized quickly before turning back to Duo, his blue eyes glittering.

'You have a sense of humor!' The Sanq Prince announced with glee. 'Now there's something my sister lacks.'

'No way!' Duo looked mock shocked. 'No such thing as a humorless person! That would just be...weird.'

'Tell me about it.' Milliardo sighed. 'Relena may be younger than me, but she's neck deep in politics. I on the other hand, am your typical soldier guy.'

'Typical soldier guy huh?' Duo grinned. 'How very original.'

'I try.'

Duo and Milliardo continued chatting well after dinner, which was no different from the majority of the nobles there. Their dinner plates were collected and replaced with clean ones, while large bowls of fruits and bottles of fine wines replaced their finished meals. Solo was now speaking to the king, while Relena chatted with the girl on her other side, both of them appearing to be more comfortable speaking with somebody other than whom they were engaged to. Heero remained standing behind Duo's seat for the entire meal, his body never moving once, save his blue eyes darting around slightly whenever someone new entered or left the room.

Finally, after even supper had been cleared, Duo excused himself for bed. Milliardo immediately arranged for a bath to be prepared for the young, Alliance prince, and Duo thanked him before leaving, Heero marching stiffly beside him. There was only half the number of people at the dining table now, with the majority having already gone off to bed. A servant met Duo in the corridors outside, directing the young prince to his room and reminding Heero of where he was to stay.

The bath was already there and steaming when Duo entered, and two maids were standing diligently beside the tub, waiting to help bathe the prince. Duo barely got to see what they looked like before Heero sent them out, locking the door behind them. Duo sighed, he would have rather liked somebody to wash him today, especially considering how tired he was. But there was no point in arguing with Heero about it -- the soldier would definitely come up with some safety issue and leave Duo falling asleep before he even finished his bath.

'You look dead on your feet, Duo.' Heero observed. Duo rolled his eyes.

'Unlike you, I am only a mere mortal.' Duo yawned, pulling off his clothes slowly, blinking his eyes rapidly in an attempt to stay awake. 'Damn it, I don't know why, but I feel damn tired.'

'Come here.' Duo yawned again, but stumbled over to his friend regardless, tripping slightly over his loosened boots. Heero held him steady with one arm, while prying his eyelids gently open with the other, staring intently into Duo's eyes as if searching for some abnormality. Normally, the young prince would have complained, but he felt so tired, he could not have fought back even if he tried.

'There doesn't appear to be anything wrong...' Heero observed, removing his hand from Duo's eye to help the boy undress. 'Just lack of decent sleep, although you could have fooled me, the way you snore...'

'Oy! Duo growled sleepily. Heero made a noise of amusement, but ridded the prince of his remaining clothes before dumping him into the tub.

The sheer shock of being thrown into water roused Duo immediately, instigating a chain of colorful obscenities that someone of class should not even know. Heero quirked an eyebrow in amusement, hastily dodging the bathwater the young prince tried to splash him with. Duo continued to curse, although his voice became steadily quieter, until he was brooding quietly to himself, a disgruntled expression on his face.

'Feeling better?' Heero asked brightly, walking carefully over so as to not slip on the wet floor. Duo gave him an evil glare, although it would have been twice more effective if he was not blowing bubbles in the water.

'You're pure evil Yuy.' Duo growled, pushing himself up slightly so that his mouth was out of the water again. 'Here I am, trusting my soul to you, and you hurl me unconcerned into water.'

'I dropped you carefully into a tub of water, my prince.' Heero corrected. 'No need to be angry.'

'Next time, I'm throwing you into a lake.'

'Good luck trying.' Heero knelt down beside the tub, directly behind Duo, before reaching over and releasing the ribbon on the bottom of Duo's braid. The hair slipped out reluctantly, mostly tangled and stuck to their neighboring strands. Duo glanced over briefly, making a face when he saw the state of his hair.

'It's not going to come apart is it?' He asked, reaching over for his now permanently-braided hair. Heero batted his hand away absently, his own hands now wrapped around the mess that was Duo's hair. Without a word, he pushed Duo gently, forcing the prince to lean forwards. Duo was just about to complain when Heero reached for a small pail and filled it with water from the bath. Duo closed his eyes immediately, managing to take a deep breath before Heero emptied the pail over his head. Duo rubbed at his eyes, ridding the water before opening them tentatively again.

'You could have warned me before you dumped that water on me.' He muttered.

'Observe your surroundings Duo.' Heero muttered back, reaching for some hair potions. Duo huffed, bringing his knees up to his chin. Heero was gentle with his hair, rubbing the potion in, then running his hands softly through Duo's hair, loosening all the knots without any discomfort on the prince's part. Duo felt the effects of too many hours of travel on him again as his eyes slowly closed, and his mind drifted off to sleep, assisted by the soothing motions as Heero ran a comb through his hair.

Duo had barely fallen asleep when he was rudely awakened by having his head dunked most unceremoniously into the water. He burst out quickly, spluttering wildly as he gave Heero an accusatory glare. Heero merely smiled, handing him a small towel. Duo wiped the water from his face quickly, his mind still trying its hardest to comprehend what was happening.

'I was sleeping.' He mumbled at length, blinking blearily at his friend.

'I know.' Heero shrugged. 'Figured I should wake you.'

'Jerk.' Duo rubbed at his eyes. 'How long was I out for?'

'About half an hour.' Heero answered. 'You should get out now though, the water's getting cold.'

'Whatever you say.' Duo yawned, standing up shakily. Heero steadied him like he did earlier, helping Duo out of the tub before wrapping the boy up in a silky robe. Duo grinned sleepily, falling asleep again. The last thing he heard was Heero muttering something under his breath about Duo's weird sleeping habits.

Part 16

The following morning, more guests arrived, filling the Sanq Castle to maximum capacity. It would have been interesting, just to sit by the front door and pick out just how many people he knew, but Duo had a job as a prince, which was to greet everybody regardless. It was somewhat interesting at first, but soon became tedious and boring. Heero never left his side, standing almost as if he were a permanent fixture behind Duo, surveying their surroundings with those cool, blue eyes of his that always left Duo feeling slightly on edge. Trowa did it too, he noticed dully as he gazed over to his brother's man, currently watching with narrowed eyes as Solo had a conversation with some old man who Duo did not know. Wryly, Duo wondered if Trowa treating everything so suspiciously provoked any ill feelings in Solo.

The castle was alive, which was a good thing for Duo in a sense, because it became less noticeable when he vanished. His not wanting to join the masses was not because he did not like parties, because Duo loved parties, but rather because the sheer size of the populous surrounding him always left Heero feeling queasy, and when Heero was queasy, Duo could not help but feel queasy himself.

'It's strange that their gardens are all sitting so high up.' The young prince murmured as he climbed up a tree, settling on a particularly thick branch.

'They hardly have the land to put their gardens anywhere else.' Heero replied, sitting down on the grass, leaning back against the tree. Duo nodded his agreement, even though no questions had been asked, as he gazed beyond the castle, seeing the metropolis that was Sanq, and the obvious city walls. The Sanq territory boundaries were actually very far from the city walls, but few lived there. As far as Duo was concerned, it was all mostly uninhabited pasturelands, forests and mountains. Very picturesque, his mind offered, but too distant from civilization.

The two of them did not speak for a long time, with Duo staring at nothing in particular while Heero dozed under the tree. It was his wary doze, Duo noted after a while, the sort of sleeping Heero did when he needed some rest but could not risk actually falling truly asleep. It was confirmed when Princess Relena entered the garden, the simple act of pushing open the door leading out onto the garden startling Heero awake. The soldier stood up immediately, his posture rigid as his eyes fell on the young princess, before bowing courteously. Duo did the best he could, still sitting up in the tree, and Relena smiled back, walking over to join them.

'It's a lovely day.' She said softly, settling down on a stone bench not so far from Duo's tree.

'Looks like it's going to rain though.' Duo commented, nodding at the clouds gathering overhead.

'That's true.' Relena murmured. 'The storm approaches.'

When Relena left later on, Duo was left wondering whether she was really referring to the weather.

Part 17

Dinner that night was a most interesting affair. It had been strange to see them all entering through the front gate, but even more so when they were all seated at the same table, some of them chatting in languages Duo had never heard before. Milliardo kept him company throughout dinner, constantly prompting Duo as to what language was being used when a puzzled expression crossed the violet-eyed prince's face, to which Duo was grateful. It was also rather amusing to see Milliardo do impersonations of the other lords, changing his voice and jabbering a bunch of gibberish which sounded rather like the language he was trying to fake, but only because neither of them knew how to speak it to begin with. Across the table, Solo and Relena were having a very animated conversation about something, with Relena's hands moving in expressive gestures before her. Milliardo caught Duo watching, quickly switching his tactics to incorporate some of Relena's gesticulations as well. Duo laughed in as dignified a fashion as he could, muffling the sounds with a hand over his mouth so as to not draw attention, not that it would have mattered. The entire dining chamber was echoing with voices and noise so much that it was literally impossible to discern one person's laughter from another's. A casual glance at Heero told Duo that the soldier was not indulging in the happy atmosphere at all, but rather was glancing around inconspicuously, probably tallying down how dangerous each of the people within the chamber was. Across the table, Trowa was doing the same thing, as was (or so Duo suspected) every other guard. It suddenly struck Duo as rather unfair that the guards could not indulge in the festivities, being too busy gauging possible threats without openly checking. Silently, Duo noted that he himself would have made a very poor guard, and would have become too immediately immersed by his surroundings to worry about anyone, let alone his charge.

'Milliardo, I seriously think you're having too much wine.' Duo commented as the Sanq prince emptied another glass of wine. The blond prince waved his hand in a gesture which stated quite simply "nonsense" before having his glass refilled. Duo himself would have probably become drunk as well, had Heero insisted before dinner that he not drink too much due to his inability to hold alcohol. It was very true, but definitely not something Duo reveled in. Heero had ended up restricting Duo's alcohol consumption to two glasses maximum, which was why the young prince had been sipping on the same glass throughout dinner.

'And you, my friend, drink too little.' Milliardo chuckled, emptying yet another glass.

'Unfortunately, I can't hold alcohol well.' Duo looked woeful. 'Especially this strong stuff. More than a couple of glasses, and I'll be gone.'

'Shame.' Milliardo smiled. 'Well, enjoy it while you can, my friend.'

'Of course.' Duo took another sip of his wine, enjoying the sweet taste before it coursed down his throat. 'You know, it's strange.'

'Yea?' Milliardo was starting to show signs of drunkenness, which was not surprising considering how much he had consumed.

'Why aren't you married?' Duo asked, sipping on his wine again. Milliardo paused for a moment, looking suddenly sober. Duo frowned, thinking he had asked the wrong question and hastily opened his mouth to amend it. But the Sanq prince put up his hand to stop Duo, his face sad.

'I fell in love with a sailor's daughter.' Milliardo explained in a whisper, not wanting anyone else to hear. 'She was such a beautiful girl you know? Short black hair and such confidence! The first time I ran into her, she threw a dead fish at me for thinking she was a boy, because you don't see girls doing manual work often. Then she passed me a crate of fish and told me to deliver it to her father, who was not so far away, and I had no choice but to comply. Even when she found out who I was, she did not seem to care. It was all, "whatever Milliardo, you've got arms and I don't give a damn whether they are royal arms or whatever, just carry the damn crate." She was so amusing...

'But of course, I'm a prince, and I was not allowed to have any such relationship with somebody like her. I protested to my father, but he would not hear any of it. "We're royalty, and being such involves us making decisions which benefit the country and not ourselves." I was devastated when I heard, not that I expected anything different.'

Duo was suddenly reminded of the same line Heero's "for the good of the nation".

'Ad majorem gentis gloriam.' He murmured, surprised that he still remembered Heero's foreign quote. Milliardo gave him a surprised look.

'You know Latin?' The Sanq prince looked positively delighted. 'I have never met anybody who knew Latin well. What did that mean?'

'I don't.' Duo quickly amended. 'It meant "for the glory of the nation", or something along those lines I believe. Another person told me, a while back. He knows Latin.'

'It's very uncommon for people to know Latin these days.' Milliardo looked thoughtful. 'Your friend must be a very knowledgeable scholar.'

Duo did not think pointing to Heero and reminding Milliardo that he was a soldier was appropriate, but he silently glowed with pride knowing that the Sanq prince had unknowingly praised his guard. It was rather unfair that Heero knew so many things, and yet the only one who ever seemed to find it amazing was Duo.

'So, what happened to her?' Duo asked, bringing their conversation back on topic.

'She went her way and I went mine.' Milliardo shrugged. 'As you said, for the glory of the nation. Sanq's prince is still unmarried, despite his years, but at least he's "pure". I've never told anybody this Duo, except for Relena. Even my father does not know the full story. So I guess that makes us good friends.'

'Yep.' Duo said happily, forgetting his propriety. Milliardo grinned, filling his glass again and lifting it before Duo.

'To friends!' He toasted.

'To friends!' Duo grinned, draining the rest of his cup.

Part 18

The wedding ceremony was to be held at midday the following day. When Duo woke up that morning, it was to a pounding headache, despite the tonic that Heero had provided with him the night before. Alcohol had never been good for Duo, but even he had never suffered such severe effects. Heero reminded him yet again of the strength of the previous night's beverage when he entered Duo's room that morning, insisting all the while that while Duo may think of himself as high and mighty, he was no Milliardo Peacecraft. The young prince immediately threw his pillow at the soldier, grumbling something incoherent under his breath. Unbelievably, Heero had the nerve to smirk before sitting down on the edge of Duo's bed, coaxing the prince into getting up out of bed. Duo adamantly refused, insisting that he would sleep the whole day.

'Your headache can't be that bad.' Heero sighed, pouring Duo some tea.

'Easy for you to say, Mr. Guy-who-did-not-drink.' Duo groaned, pulling the covers over his face. Heero sighed, tugging the quilt away and helping Duo into a seating position, all the while ignoring the young prince's whines.

'Stop whining.' He growled after a while, but was gentle when he pushed the cup of tea into Duo's hands. 'Drink that, it'll make you feel better. Then you can get on out of bed and get yourself ready for the ceremony. It's almost noon already.'

'I feel like I've been kicked in the head by a horse.' Duo mumbled, drinking the tea dutifully.

'You would be dumb if that happened.' Heero stood up swiftly, collecting Duo's clothes and dumping them before the prince. 'Dress quickly, I'll be waiting outside.'

Duo did as he was told, finishing off the tea and dressing quickly in his new clothes. They were tailored to fit a bit too snugly, and Duo was left jumping around the room for a moment, trying to become accustomed to the clothes. He would not complain to Heero, because the soldier had probably heard enough of Duo's whining to last a lifetime. Still, the urge to tell Heero how irritating the clothes were was strong. The blue-eyed soldier seemed to realize regardless, but far from being sympathetic, smacked Duo in the back and told him to stand up straight. Duo only just managed to bite down the remark of calling Heero his mother, always fussing about what seemed to be the most trivial of things. But then, they were outside in the large courtyard, in which hundreds of people seemed to be gathered, waiting for the ceremony proceedings. The Sanq prince, princess and king had yet to arrive, as did Solo, and Duo was still stalling on the castle steps, shielding his face in an attempt to block out the surprisingly blinding light. Heero soon reminded him that that was also an effect of drinking more than the body could handle, before nudging Duo none to gently off the stairs. The young prince scowled.

'You would make a brilliant slave driver.' He muttered contemptuously under his breath. Heero had the nerve to smirk.

Solo arrived not long after, dressed in splendid new clothing, something managing to walk properly in them despite how tight they were. Relena arrived not so long after with her father, but Milliardo had yet to appear. Silently, Duo wondered if Milliardo had drunk too much last night, which was probably correct, and had yet to wake. Heaven's knows he did not want to wake up this morning, with his head pounding like it did.

The ceremony was soon starting, and still, Milliardo did not show. Duo's curiosity rose, especially when he saw the king murmur hurriedly to his right hand man. The guy suddenly blended in with the background and was gone in a way that Heero seemed to always do, and Duo wondered dully if it was a universal soldier/guard technique. The music was now playing, the ceremony having already started. Solo and Relena stood side-by-side, offering each other their vows under the steady gaze of the king and two wizened old men. Still, Milliardo did not show. The crowds were now whispering, and Duo soon joined them.

'What do you think is going on?' He asked Heero curiously. The guard narrowed his eyes, taking a quick glance at the king's side where his man had yet to return, and shook his head. Duo's mouth formed a thin line as he frowned, not knowing why his stomach was feeling so uncomfortable.

Relena and Solo had finished their vows when the king's man returned again, seeming to appear out of nowhere. Duo watched him carefully, as did Heero, as the man whispered urgently to the king. The king's expression did not change, save his face paled a shade, and Duo suddenly knew that something bad had happened.

'What do you reckon happened?' He asked Heero quietly. The soldier stared at the king's man, eyes fixed on his lips, before lowering his voice and murmuring back to Duo.

'The Prince Milliardo Peacecraft has died in his sleep.'

Duo's eyes widened as he turned quickly to face Heero, as if to confirm what he had heard. The young soldier nodded once, his face somber. Duo shook his head once, uncomprehending, refusing to comprehend what Heero had just uttered. Milliardo was not dead. How could he be dead? He was so happy the previous night, drinking and laughing and eating and smiling and...

"The Prince Milliardo Peacecraft has died in his sleep."

Where had Duo heard that before? Slowly, his eyes widened further, as the memory came back to him. He shook his head twice, this time truly refusing to believe. Heero stared at him, eyes sad as he nodded once before turning Duo back around to face the proceedings. The ceremony was pretty much over, and both Solo and Relena stood together, completely unaware of what had happened. But Duo was not paying them any mind, as his brain kept playing that night spent in White Creek...

"People will be peeking through the walls to see if Solo dislikes the arrangement as much as their daughter, to see if Solo is whispering to Trowa about murdering the princess, to see if Trowa is busy grinding up poisons for the prince of Sanq so that he never wakes again."

"...to see if Trowa is busy grinding up poisons for the prince of Sanq so that he never wakes again."

Only it had not been Trowa who mixed the poison and watched impassively as the Sanq prince drank it, smiling all the while. Heero had reminded Duo to drink only a maximum of two glasses, and had provided him with a tonic afterwards to "reduce the effects of drinking strong alcohol". But that had not been the tonic's job at all. That tonic Heero provided him with was an antidote for the poison in the wine, which must only be poisonous in high concentrations. Expensive, strong wine from Vier, brought over by nobles Duo did not know. When had Heero slipped in the poison? How had Heero coordinated everything so perfectly that it was only Duo and Milliardo who drank it?

'Look happy young prince.' Heero murmured in Duo's ear. 'Your brother is now married.'

'Why?' Duo muttered, swallowing the bile that threatened to burst forth.

'Ad majorem gentis gloriam.' Heero's voice was ever so soft. 'For the glory of the nation, sire.'

Part 19

They left the following morning. By then, it had become widespread that Prince Milliardo had died from a terrible sickness he had been suffering from for months. Relena was ashen-faced when she rode back with them, her eyes downcast. Duo could only wonder if she knew what had really happened, if anybody knew what had really happened except for himself and Heero. Heero had been exceedingly silent since Milliardo's death, which was no surprise considering how cold Duo was acting towards him. Despite what Heero had whispered to him earlier, he could still not understand why the soldier had acted in the way he had. Heero had not claimed to be an assassin, but had said everything but, leaving Duo to connect the obvious dots together. This definitely explained where the soldier always disappeared off to, an answer to the puzzle which Duo would rather have remained oblivious to. Who knew what Heero was? His father must, but was he the only one? Duo would not have been surprised if that was true. An assassin was only ever effective when people did not know what he was.

The ride back to the castle was a blur, and Duo spent most of it in silence. He could not describe any of what happened, except that one moment, they were riding and the next moment, they were dismounting in the courtyard of the L1 Castle. His father greeted them, his face somber at having heard the news through a messenger, although Duo was doubtful whether that was true. That was the first time Duo ever caught the subtle look the king sent Heero's way, leaving him pondering over how many had been cast behind his back in the past. Relena greeted his father courteously, and the king embraced his new daughter. Within moments, everyone seemed to have disappeared, leaving Duo and Heero the only ones standing in the courtyard. Gently, Heero ushered Duo inside the castle, directing the young prince to his chambers. He tried to excuse himself once they got there, but Duo dragged him inside, barring the door and fixing Heero with his most venomous glare. The soldier did not seem affected at all.

'Why did you do it Heero?' He asked, his voice surprisingly weak.

'Do not interpret this wrongly, my prince.' Heero said quietly. 'I follow orders, as being a soldier dictates. The king gave me a mission, I completed it. End of story.'

'But...'

'There is no "but" or "however". Understand it Duo, as much esteem as you may hold me in, I am just a soldier.'

'An assassin!' Duo growled, glaring at Heero.

'A soldier.' Heero corrected under his breath. 'I serve the king, and that is that. Stop living in that idealistic happy world of yours Duo! The real world is not so gloriously simple. Politics is like this, and do not think for one moment that young father is evil for ordering it. There has not been a day that passed where your life was not in danger.'

'You say this as if this were a chess game.' Duo scowled. 'All rooks and pawns and sacrifices here and there for the supreme victory.'

'Why do you think people go to war Duo?' Heero was angry now. 'Why do you think people die in battles? If I told you about the hundreds of men I've killed in battle, would you mind? Would you rant and complain about the evils of it? Because you knew Milliardo Peacecraft, that makes his death more significant than the fathers and brothers and uncles and sons that I killed in battle? Get your priorities straight Duo.'

And then Heero was wrenching open the door and marching out, his posture stiff, indicating at his obvious agitation. Duo sighed, letting his anger dissipate as he closed the door softly, snapping the locks in place, wondering all the while just when had he read Heero wrongly.

Part 20

Their friendship healed over time, although Duo found himself constantly wary of the soldier. Heero noticed the rift between them, but said nothing of it. The soldier tried his hardest to treat Duo as he always did, but Duo could not seem to bring himself to accept it anymore. When Heero slung his arm around Duo, the prince stiffened despite himself, almost as if he was expecting something to happen. Heero noticed, and made sure never to do it again. Duo soon found himself missing Heero's closeness, but knowing Heero would do no such thing as long as he remained feeling uncomfortable. It was sad that what was once so natural was suddenly so difficult and complicated, and Duo wondered if they would ever be as close as they were before.

Heero still disappeared every now and then, but the absences now left Duo feeling slightly sick and wondering who else was suffering nasty falls and catching strange, incurable diseases. They never talked about it again, and Heero's extracurricular job stood between them like a wall, an unbreakable barrier in their recovering friendship.

Duo was fourteen when he first went into battle. It was not a large battle, so to speak, merely a clashing of swords with a rebelling group who called themselves Oz. Despite that, they were unbelievably well-trained and strong. Heero soon informed him that they were actually a special faction within Romefeller, sent out to cause chaos and fight when Romefeller itself was not allowed to.

'These are proper soldiers.' Heero explained. 'Do not think for one minute that they should be weak simply because they are not technically an army.'

Duo did not enjoy fighting, nor was he all that good at it. Battles for him were a flurry of swinging swords and bloods and screams. His actions were more self-defense than anything else, but years of practicing with Heero had sharpened his skills such that he could still hold his own. Heero, on the other hand, seemed to throw himself into battles in a way which reminded Duo of intense devotion and detachment at the same time. Heero fought because he had people to defend and orders to carry out, but that was it. His own body did not seem to matter at all, and more than once did Duo see Heero throw himself in a comrade's defense or allow his self to become a decoy for some well plotted attack. For Heero, everything seemed to be strategy and carefully calculated risks. He would allow an enemy to plunge their sword in his shoulder, just for the opportunity of getting the weapon stuck and giving him time to plunge his own sword into that person's heart. Trade in their favor, Heero called it. Duo called it stupidity.

'You could at least try not to get hurt.' He muttered irritably as he sat with Heero by the campfire under a clear sky, a moist towel in his hand and a pail of water sitting between them. Carefully, he cleaned away the layer of blood and dirt from Heero's shoulder, exposing a still bleeding wound. 'You'll need stitches for this.'

'I do.' Heero replied distractedly, reaching for a needle and thread and handing it to Duo. 'It was a calculated risk.'

'The guy could have taken off your arm.' Duo growled, putting the needle point in the flame, then removing it again and threading the piece of string through, tying it neatly before cleaning away some more of Heero's blood from the wound. Frowning, he let the needle cool before pushing it through Heero's flesh, sewing the gash together.

'He would not have been able to.' Heero shrugged. 'Don't worry so much, my prince. I've fought enough battles to know how to act to win things in our favor.'

'Sure you do.' Duo sighed, biting off the thread and tying it up neatly. Carefully, he put the needle back in the box it had come from, before reaching for the towel, already stained with Heero's blood. Calmly, he washed the towel as best as he could before washing away the blood from Heero's wound and bandaging it. He did not remove his hand when he was done, and Heero turned to give him a quizzical look. 'Everything is about "the greater good" for you, isn't it?'

'Not everything.' Heero replied quietly. Duo paused for a moment, waiting for Heero to continue.

The soldier did not, and Duo, wisely, did not press on.

By the next morning, they were fighting again. It was utter pandemonium. Oz had managed to sneak up on their camp (which was, admittedly not all that difficult to do) while the majority of the troops were still resting, and it was only the cries of their scouts that alerted them. Still, the soldiers were confused and unable to fall into formation, choosing instead to grab whatever was nearby and defend themselves accordingly. It was, nevertheless, an effective tactic on their part, and they managed to suffer minimal loses by the time the Oz forces retreated. Duo sported a fresh wound across his back, and Heero caught an arrow in the same area they had just sewn up the night before.

'Please tell me you did not do it on purpose.' Duo muttered woefully as he reached for his sword, hacking off the arrowhead protruding out of Heero's back.

'I'm not stupid.' Heero gritted his teeth in pain as Duo dragged the arrow out. 'I would not risk injuring the same area twice, it may cause some permanent damage.'

'Your bloody shoulder, no pun intended, is going to suffer some permanent damage.' Duo ripped off his shirt, inspecting the wound carefully. 'There goes my stitches, damn it, I'm going to have to rip it out, or at least rip out as much as I can. I'll be damned if this area doesn't get infected.'

'Stop swearing Duo, have some class.' Heero handed him a small dagger helpfully, watching calmly as Duo stuck it into the fire briefly. 'How's your back?'

'It's fine.' Duo waved the dagger around in an attempt to speed up the cooling process. 'One of the other guys sowed it up earlier.'

'That's good.' Heero let out a low hiss as Duo dove the dagger into his wound, watching distractedly as the young prince wrestled loose the thread and bits of wood embedded there. 'That dagger's still warm.'

'Figured it might reduce the chances of infection.' Duo mumbled, eyes fixed on Heero's wound.

'The shoulder's going to be infected regardless! Do you have to cook it as well?'

'Figured you could take a little pain too.'

'Sadist.' Heero made a face. 'Now who's evil?'

'Masochist.' Duo smirked. 'Now who's the imbecile?'

The next day, they managed to sneak up on a small group of Oz soldiers, allowing a group of battle-weary soldiers to deliver an ambush similar to what they suffered the previous day. The Oz soldiers reacted just like they did, all self-defense and without order. Unfortunately, they did not have the numbers on their side and was soon annhailated, but not without loses on the Alliance soldiers. Duo suffered a fresh leg wound, and Heero received a knife through the back in an attempt to protect Duo. Thankfully, the blow was not fatal, however, the wound on Heero's shoulder was swelling and letting flow some vile looking and equally putrid smelling fluid. Duo did his best for Heero, along with the other soldiers present and the two medics within their party, but there was no doubt that Heero's wound was horribly infected and was going to take a turn for the worst before it got any better. The medics suggested bed rest and a lot of herbs and dressings, but their present conditions did not give much room for that. Heero merely shrugged, insisting all the while that he had to get back to the battle. Duo frowned.

They returned home a week after that, mostly due to insufficient supplies and the lack of activity. The only problems with waging a war against Oz was that they were a small faction, a part of Romefeller perhaps, but still nonetheless, a small, guerilla faction. They had few distinct bases and camps, and even then, it was hard to discern whether the soldiers they killed were really important enough to cause a difference in the long run. It was an overall unsatisfying collection of battles, but the upside being that they lost very few men. The downside however, was that they were probably no closer to eliminating Oz than when they started, but that was a thought that Duo did not share with any of the other soldiers. Most of them probably knew, but regardless, it was not very good material for spurring your soldiers on.

Heero was put to bed as soon as they returned to the castle. His wound was cleaned more effectively now that there were supplies present, and the conditions were better, although there was little the medics could do. The wound had closed itself, and despite its constant spewing of bothersome fluids, reopening it was out of the question. Instead, the medics cleaned it regularly, applying soothing salves and mixtures which may reduce the swelling. Heero developed a fever, but he was as stubborn as ever and refused to admit to it, constantly murmuring how he was fine despite his shivering and pale skin. The medics provided him with calming draughts, but Heero refused to take them. In the end, Duo had to make them himself, lest he continue watching Heero toss and turn and suffer in the hands of the demons that gripped him.

Duo had never enjoyed playing with herbs and mixing his own tonics, but it was a skill that Heero had taught him when he was younger. In retrospect, it was fairly obvious how Heero knew all those things, but back then, it had been a puzzle which piqued Duo's curiosity. That alone was what convinced him to learn some of the herbs and the mixtures they formed, even if it was not much. Heero had taught him a few of the most common herbs, and in what quantities and mixtures would form good calming draughts, which would make good mixtures to bring sleep to a person who could not rest on their own, and which in large quantities would cause death. As Duo thought ran the various herbs in his head, having finished with mixing Heero a simple calming tonic, he wondered if Heero had used any of those on Milliardo Peacecraft.

Heero recovered slowly, although it was easy to see how agitated he was becoming at being confined in a bed. Duo made sure he remained in bed, giving the maids and guards strict orders to keep Heero there, and checking up on the soldier every so often. Heero was definitely unhappy with the arrangement, but did not complain, although his brooding was as good a whine as any. He soon took to glaring at Duo, as if blaming his incapacitation on the prince. Duo merely ignored it, so used to Heero's glares that they almost slipped by without notice.

'Is it so difficult for you to just stay in bed and let others pamper you?' Duo asked eventually, settling down on the edge of Heero's bed and offering him a glass of water. The soldier took the glass, draining it in a few gulps in succession before passing it back to Duo.

'I feel so useless here.' Heero admitted, frowning. 'There's so much I could be doing, so much I should be doing, but instead, I'm sitting around like some invalid.'

'You are an invalid.' Duo pointed out, replacing the glass on the table nearby. 'Stop pushing yourself so hard Heero.'

'I'm not pushing myself.' Heero sighed, playing with his shirt collar. 'But there are a lot of things I should be taking care of instead of lying around all day.'

'Like what?'

'You remember what I told you before Solo's wedding?' Heero asked, hand dropping from his collar to rest on the bed sheets. 'About a spy in our midst?'

'Oh.' It was true, Duo had forgotten all about it. But hearing Heero bring it up again instantly dragged the memory back into the prince's mind. 'Have you found him...or her?'

'No.' Heero gritted his teeth. 'It bothers me, because every time I think I'm on a good trail, it dead ends and I'm left with nothing again. So far, nothing severe has come of it, but if we were to truly go into a war against Oz with Romefeller's full support, then you can guarantee that the spy would tip the scales in their favor.'

'No trails at all? No clues?'

'Every time I find a clue or trail, it's only to go through a series of what appears to be accidentally left clues, only to reach a calculated dead end. Whoever this person is, he's smart and he's purposefully leaving elusive breadcrumbs. We won't know we're actually following the right trail unless we follow all of them through completely, and that is proving more tedious than you can imagine. There are quite a few of your father's most trusted men on it right now, but I fear that the more dead ends they strike, the more irritable and careless they become.'

'What did father say?'

'To try our hardest to find this guy obviously.' Heero rubbed his eyes. 'Only problem is that it could be anybody...well, not anybody.'

'Oh?' Duo asked curiously.

'He or she has to be present for all the strategy sessions, many meetings with the king and then so. Of course, this guy could just be somebody's confidant, so he would not even need to be near any of those places. Those present for such meetings are advised not to reveal any information they've learnt, but if there's somebody out there who you are trusting with your life, somebody who you've always discussed strategies with in the past, then you're not exactly going to stop.'

'That widens the search radius.' Duo sighed. 'I can see why this is causing you grief.'

'Yes.' Heero closed his eyes for a moment. 'A lot of grief.'

Part 21

Heero left the bed after two weeks spent in it, his movements displaying his obvious pleasure at being able to run around again. Had Heero been anybody else, Duo might have found the action endearing in a childish sort of way. But Heero being able to move implied one word and one only: work, and despite Duo's protestations that the soldier should not get himself involved with body-requiring assignments, considering his body's still recovering status, Heero fell back into his original routine. His left arm was still affected by the wound on his shoulder, but that only caused Heero to become more dependant on his right arm in compensation. It was almost extraordinary to see Heero win just as many sparring fights as he did before, even though he was still in recovery.

'Just because the convalescence period has not ended does not mean I have to perform any less than I usually do.' Heero said at one point, and Duo did not even bother arguing that it should. The young prince could only wonder what the soldier would do when his body fully recovered (or as much as it could) from the injuries. Would he push himself into oblivion, since being in full control of his body must imply more effective use of the self when in a state of semi-invalidity? Duo had no doubt that he would.

'Just take it easy.' He would still say periodically, knowing it fell to deaf ears but feeling compelled to say it regardless.

The troubles with Oz was still ever-present, meanwhile Romefeller continued to deny association. It was public knowledge that Oz was a faction of Romefeller, but so long as they denied it, then there was little the Alliance could do lest they give Romefeller a reason to start an official war. However, Oz and Romefeller was fast becoming the least of Duo's worries, along with the threat of a spy within the castle.

'I am going to be betrothed.' He murmured, his voice hollow, as he sat down next to Heero in the gardens.

'That's something you should have been expecting.' Heero shrugged. 'To whom?'

'Hilde.' Duo brought his hands to his face. 'Hilde of L2. Damn it, Hilde is my friend! Not someone who I want as a future wife.'

'For the --'

'Don't you dare say it.' Duo warned, casting Heero an evil glare. The soldier blinked once, closing his mouth as ordered with a shrug. 'Damn Heero, you say that enough for it to be your motto.'

'Well, it is true.' Heero shrugged again. 'Don't swear.'

'I'm going to be engaged to one of my best friends!' Duo complained. 'I have a right to swear.'

'You should feel lucky.' Heero consoled. 'You could have been engaged to Dorothy.'

'Even my father knows that we'd probably kill each other within a day.' Duo sighed. 'He's not completely crazy.'

There was silence for a moment while Duo glared at the grass beneath his feet, stomping on it for good measure. Heero did not move next to him, seemingly at a loss as to what to do. Duo did not blame him, the rift in their relationship had yet to mend, and with a start, he realized just how much he missed having Heero sling his arm around him and grip tightly to his shoulder while murmuring comforting words. The last time Heero had made any such friendly physical contact was over two years ago, but what was more surprising was how his trust for Heero had hardly waned over the years. Remove the fact that after the initial death of Milliardo Peacecraft, he had not trusted Heero to embrace him and how little they spoke to each other in that short period, and Duo was left with the feeling that he still trusted Heero with his secrets as ever. Heero was still the first to know if something happened in court that was not to Duo's approval, or if the young prince had made a fool of himself at some gathering.

Impulsively, Duo leaned over, resting his head against Heero's shoulder. The soldier tensed, obviously uncertain what he should do. Duo waited, eyes purposefully fixed on something far away, just to keep himself from looking at Heero. There was a moment's hesitation, then Heero's arm was around him, and there was nothing negative in Duo's mind at all. The trust was still there, probably always had been. Heero was still his guard, the person he confided in, the person he relied upon to defend him and protect him. But above all that, Heero was his best friend, and that was a fact that had not changed since the first moment he befriended the soldier.

They did not speak much to each other, but that was all right. The words were not needed anyway.

Part 22

Duo was pacing, which was uncommon for the young prince, despite his constant restlessness. Heero watched nearby, or so Duo liked to think he was. The soldier was actually sitting at the table in Duo's sleeping quarters, pouring over stacks of documents. He had been doing that ever since he first arrived earlier that evening, not giving the prince any warning at all before he dumped his stuff on the table and took to glaring at it for the next few hours. Duo himself was on edge, the feeling of despair welling in him as he watched the day of his betrothal ceremony with Hilde draw near. He had not seen Hilde since hearing the news, however, he had no doubt that the other girl was equally distressed about it. He and Hilde were friends, pure and simple, but that was definitely not good enough reason for them not to get married. Dully, Duo thought of Solo and Relena, who were now obviously in love with each other. That was not going to happen with himself and Hilde, he knew it. The mere thought that he could be making such faces with his friend was beyond strange and repugnant.

'Keep pacing Duo.' Heero muttered distractedly from the table, eyes never leaving the scrolls sitting before him. 'Another couple of cycles, and you'll have a nice hole in the middle of your room.'

'I'm distracted.' Duo muttered back, increasing his pacing speed just to spite Heero. Scythe made a noise nearby, his head rising from his rug to fix Duo with what could only be called an exasperated stare before falling asleep again. The dog was gaining in years, Duo thought sadly. Gone were the days when Scythe would happily bounce around the place, barking at anyone and anything. Now, the dog's days seemed to be spent in an eternal loop, alternating between lying on the rug, going for short, infrequent walks and food. It was rather sad, and Duo could only wonder how much time the dog had left.

'Father says that the spy has yet to be found.' Duo paused, giving Heero a curious stare. 'Is it true?'

'Why would he lie to you?' Heero grimaced. 'Unless he thinks you're the spy and wants to flush you out with a false sense of confidence. But that won't work. I've tried, and I've no doubt the other men looking for him have tried as well.'

'But you still haven't found anything?'

'I wouldn't be complaining if I had.' Heero sat back slowly, rubbing his eyes. 'I did advise your father to postpone the betrothal ceremony. With Oz gaining in power and this spy constantly feeding them information, I can hardly bring myself to think of such an event as being safe.'

'Did it work?' Duo asked, his voice hopeful.

'"Calculated risks."' Heero sighed. 'Your father believes that Oz will not chance an attack during the ceremony, so long as security remains tight throughout the entire affair. Personally, I think the ceremony could wait. L2 is already part of the Alliance, and trade and reinforcements are not going to change because you've become engaged to Lady Hilde. Nonetheless, you father seems to believe it's safe enough.'

'Now would that not be a blast!' Duo exclaimed suddenly, his voice echoing around the room. 'Second prince of the Alliance, death by an arrow while marching up the dais to become engaged to his equally reluctant friend.'

'I won't let that happen.' Heero fixed Duo with a piercing look. Duo's frustrated expression faded, replaced with a smile.

'I know you won't.' The prince sighed. 'Doesn't change the fact that Oz isn't thinking it.'

'No.' Heero clenched his teeth. 'Planning it is probably more accurate.'

'Just so that you know.' Duo grinned. 'I trust you.'

'I know.' Heero cast him a quick smile before turning back to his scrolls, seeming to skim through them with renewed enthusiasm. Duo sighed, sitting down next to Scythe. As the dog leaned its head on his leg, droll splattering his pants, Duo wondered dully just how much longer would it take before the spy was found, just so that Heero could be left to some peace once again.

His mind did not provide him with an answer.

Duo sighed.

'So then, is there any way we can manipulate this situation so that I don't end up marrying Hilde?' The prince asked, scratching Scythe behind the ears.

'It's a betrothal ceremony, not a marriage.' Heero corrected, his eyes never leaving the pages he was ruffling over. 'And no, unless Oz becomes extremely active to the point where your father can scarcely think that they'll leave you alone.'

'I don't want to marry Hilde.'

'So you said.' Heero turned around in his seat to give Duo a wry look. 'Many times.'

'Doesn't change the fact that it's true.' Duo insisted.

'You were just as reluctant when your brother was to marry Relena.' Heero turned back to his scrolls. 'They seem to be getting along fine, unless all those moony looks behind people's backs were just ploys to get people to think they like each other.'

'But Hilde and I are friends!'

'I think you said that as well.' Heero sighed, turning around again. 'Suck it up and do it for your country.'

'That's different.' Duo scowled, moving Scythe's head gently so he could bring his knees up to his chin. Heero sighed at the table, followed by the sound of chair legs scraping against the stone floor, before Heero sat himself down next to Duo.

'Everybody makes sacrifices at some point in their lives.' Heero said reasonably. 'You more so than everyone else, because you're a prince and how you sneeze in public may affect trade. But that's how life goes.'

'Was that a joke?' Duo asked, turning his face so that he could fix Heero with a firm stare. The soldier looked surprised with himself, blinking several times in succession almost in compensation.

'Contraire to popular belief.' Heero declared with much clearing of his throat. 'I am capable of making jokes.'

Duo laughed. For that one moment, his betrothal with Hilde slipped his mind, and he allowed himself to believe that all was well with his life. There were no spies, no Oz, no tense relationships with Romefeller. Just himself and Heero, laughing and talking as if they were normal teenagers. For that one moment, Duo allowed himself to believe that he was not a prince, and Heero was not a soldier.

It felt good.

Part 23

Duo did not know how he managed to get through the weeks leading up to his betrothal ceremony without incident. Thinking back on it, to classify that period as "without incident" was a blatant and obvious lie. Many things did happen, many incidents, a few of which Duo wished never happened. Regret was a painful and stupid thing, Heero would often tell him, even though he did it frequently himself. But there was truth in that statement; the art of looking back on things already done and insisting that they could have been done better or not at all, was a most useless task. Unless the situation called for it, regretting events past was a tedious task that brought the reminiscing subject a lot of unneeded grief.

Three weeks before the ceremony, the castle was a bustle of activity. Maids and servants ran around like people possessed, dusting and cleaning and moving bits of furniture. Duo bumped into at least half a dozen maids just trying to get down to the practice yard, each time to hear an insincere apology from a very agitated maid. For all their courteousness, they might as well have screamed and reprimanded him for being clumsy and not watching where he was going. After that, Duo made a point to travel in the lesser used corridors, although even those appeared to be filled. When he told Heero about it, the soldier sympathized while passing Duo his sword for practice, suggesting all the while that perhaps the prince should keep away from the castle unless he really needed to be inside. Duo did not bother protesting that it was his home, but instead simply muttered his acquiescence.

The two of them trained for the majority of the day, mostly because there was little else they could do. Heero was finally giving the spy situation a rest for a moment, after Duo reminded him that there were half a dozen other equally trustworthy and skilled men working on the case. Duo himself, was stranded from home, unable to walk inside lest he face the evils of a castle of impatient people, all bent on doing something that they did not have the time to finish.

'They're mad!' Duo said seriously, pointing his sword at the castle. 'All of them!'

'I know.' Heero grinned, lunging over with his own sword. 'Stop leaving openings!'

Eventually, sparring became boring too, although not in the sense that Duo would have liked. It was still easy to see that he was clearly not as fit as Heero, which led to sloppy moves and gradually deteriorating techniques as time wore on. Heero did not seem to get tired at all, but called breaks when he realized Duo was had done as much as he could for the time being. That was probably what led to Duo being sprawled on his back in the middle of the courtyard, hearing the constant clashing of swords and stomping of feet of the other guards training nearby, but not caring enough to move. Heero grabbed his sword, setting it down a distance away before standing over Duo's head, giving him a look.

'Don't frown 'Ro.' Duo groaned, still panting slightly. 'I'm tired and I'm sleeping.'

'Not on this ground you're not.' Heero reached over, grabbing Duo's arm and dragging him up. The prince purposefully relaxed all his muscles, having the desired effect of being heavy and making things twice as difficult for Heero. The soldier cast him a glare, pointedly lifting Duo over his shoulder and marching the both of them off to the gardens regardless. When they go there, he set the prince rather unceremoniously on the ground beside a stone bench, sitting down on the bench himself. Duo made a face.

'So I can't sleep on stone, but I can rest on moist grass?' The prince asked. 'What kind of logic is that?'

'You are not in danger of being trampled here.'

'They weren't going to trample me back there!' Duo nodded his head pointedly in the courtyard's direction, the action lacking the effect because his head did not nod so much as twitch. 'I'm going to catch a cold and it will be your fault.'

'I take no responsibilities for any sicknesses you bring upon yourself.' Heero smirked. 'If you are truly uncomfortable, then you could get up yourself and sit down here.'

He patted the spot on the bench next to where he was sitting. Duo snorted.

'Sure.'

They were both silent for a moment, Heero gazing off into the distance while Duo watched his face, not having anything else interesting to watch. His mind suddenly supplied him with an image of when Heero was young, and he could only marvel at how much and how little had changed. Heero's face was just the way it always was, although his jaw was more set now and there were more wrinkles on his forehead because of his constant frowning. His eyes were still that midnight blue color, piercing and perceptive, not letting anything pass. His hair was slightly longer, but just as messy as always. Duo could not remember ever seeing Heero's hair getting cut, but he assumed the soldier did it by himself. To think that Heero would let another person near him with a knife was laughable, unless that person was Duo himself. The prince smiled, reveling once again in the trust that lay between them, and how it had almost been lost after the Milliardo incident.

It was strange, but after staring at Heero for so long, the only word that came into Duo's mind was that Heero was beautiful. Beautiful was not an adjective that people commonly associated with boys, but that was exactly what Heero was. While he was not beautiful in the sense that Relena was beautiful, with her shapely body, feminine face and bright hair, Heero was beautiful in his own way. There was an almost elegance about Heero's features in a way which was most definitely male, but still beautiful. And not only Heero's face, but his arms, despite a lifetime spent as a soldier, was still unbelievably thin and without the muscular bulk Duo saw in most other soldiers. His hands, while coarse with blisters gained from wielding a sword, still maintained an air of grace.

Heero, as if sensing Duo's stare, returned the look with his own puzzled stare. The prince blinked, looking away quickly as if he had been caught thieving. His face flushed, the heat seeming to increase as Heero continued to look at him, curiosity rising with every moment of Duo's strange behavior.

'Duo?' Duo could not bring himself to look at Heero, his own eyes suddenly finding interest in the tree on the other side of the garden. 'What's wrong.'

'Nothing.' Duo responded quietly in a way which promoted the eyebrow quirk he received from Heero. 'It's nothing, seriously.'

'You look like you've been caught trying to pick your father's pockets.' Heero smiled, and because Duo was already on that line of thought, the prince could not help but find the effect it had on his best friend's face beautiful.

'Um...' He groaned, that was most intelligent. Now Heero was looking worried, slipping off the bench to sit beside Duo on the grass, staring at him with worried blue eyes.

'You didn't really steal something of your father's did you?' Duo would have laughed at the concern that spread across Heero's face at the notion, had the situation been different. 'Or did you feed one of Howard's "do not feed 'em anything I don't approve of" horses again.'

'No!' Duo protested, eyes still fixed on anything but Heero, which was becoming increasingly difficult considering Heero's proximity. 'I was just thinking...'

'About?'

'Nothing.' Duo braved it and looked at Heero in the eye. 'Just drop it okay?'

'If you really want...' Heero frowned. 'But if you did something...'

Now Heero was going to think he did something which made Duo lose his faith in the man, which was so far from the truth, it might have been funny. Heero pressed his lip in a firm line as he got up and sat down on the bench again, his posture rigid in a way which told Duo in no subtle terms how distressed he was at having done something bad, but not knowing what it was. It was almost sad, and gave birth to a lot of squirming things in the pit of his stomach.

'You really want to know?' He found himself asking, and continued before Heero responded. 'I thought you were pretty.'

'Oh.'

Duo did not think he had ever experienced a more awkward moment. Whatever Heero had been expecting, it was definitely not that, and it incensed Duo to think that the soldier might not have ever heard it at all in the past. They were both silent, the heat returning to Duo's cheeks while Heero blushed, a strange action which Duo had previously never seen before, and might have considered cute if he were not so busy staring into the sky.

'Wait, were?' Heero asked after a while, his voice surprisingly soft. 'So I'm not pretty anymore.'

'Yes you're still pretty!' Duo found himself retaliating before realizing what he said. Heero started laughing, an obvious sign for Duo to join in, so he did. The two laughed it off, then continued talking about something totally different, and Duo let himself sigh with relief that Duo had turned it into a joke.

Still, it did not change the fact that what he said was completely true, but he could only hope that Heero did not realize that.

Real wistful thinking, that was.

Part 24

Heero was absent a lot over the next week, and for once, Duo knew where he had gone. With the betrothal ceremony approaching ever so quickly, the need to capture the spy only increased. Following Heero's orders, Duo had been careful with what he said and did, not that it mattered all that much. His father, in his own way of countering the spy problem, had mentioned very few details to Duo except those that he really needed to know, something which both Solo and (much to his chagrin) Heero did too. It was tolerable coming from Solo, since the two rarely spoke to each other about anything terribly important, and Duo rather liked not knowing what his father had planned, ever since the death of Milliardo Peacecraft. However, when Heero started shutting him out as well, things became ridiculous. In his retaliation, Duo had decided to block out Heero as well, but bearing in mind that Heero was Duo's primary information source, that rebellion soon fizzled to nothing.

'This sucks.' Duo groaned, sitting in the garden with Scythe lying by his feet. 'Everyone's busy because it's my betrothal ceremony except for me.'

Duo found himself muttering curses under his breath about jinxes for the rest of the afternoon, because almost immediately after he had uttered that ghastly sentence, a maid found him and dragged him indoors for clothes fitting. Standing on the pedestal and trying hard not to move for fear of being jabbed by a needle, Duo fumed and mumbled, feeling like Solo's wedding all over again. Absently, he wondered if they would implement some particular hairstyle on him that would end up sticking, as his hair had never been in any fashion other than braided since Solo's wedding.

Thankfully, his braid seemed to be neat enough, because the maids did not suggest any changes to his hair, which meant that his father had not been whispering things in an attempt to coerce Duo into doing something without outright saying anything himself. It was a most irritating tactic, because Duo could not turn around and tell his father off when the man had apparently done nothing wrong. A whisper here, a murmur there, and a wildfire starts with no apparent cause -- his father's most well-practiced art.

Duo left many hours later, feeling sore at having stood still for so long while constantly being prodded by pins. He had a feeling that the seamstress was doing it on purpose, just to see him jump and mutter curses under his breath that he should never have learnt. She made sure never to prod him particularly hard, just enough to evoke a response of some kind to amuse both herself and the other maids there. Duo saw no humor in it, although that may have been because of how long he spent on that pedestal. With a grim expression on his face as he marched down to have dinner in the kitchens, he wondered just how many similar experiences he would have to endure in his life as a prince. More than you can imagine, his mind supplied helpfully, followed by Heero and his famous "for the good of the nation".

'Yea, for the bloody good of the bloody nation.' Duo cursed, pushing open the kitchen door, only to be bowled over by a hoard of hurrying guards. They all yelled apologies as they ran by, but hardly any of them sounded sincere. Duo figured it had something to do with his apparent carefree attitude, and how he would never punish anybody. Who knew that being so friendly with everybody would lead to their poor treatment of him, his mind asked woefully as he pushed open the door once more, making sure to check around the corner before walking into the room.

'Prince! You're going to have dinner with us?' A soldier, who Duo insisted on calling Scar due to the diagonal slash that ran down the man's face, called from the other side of the room. Duo hurried over quickly, dodging around several other guards and maids before collapsing on the seat next to him. 'Wow, you look tired.'

'You have no idea.' Duo sighed. 'You know, I can't even remember how I managed to get through my last clothes fitting, but I'll be damned if I have to go through it again.'

'Chin up princeling.' A second soldier named Gil offered from across the table. Duo scowled, hating the name but never quite succeeded in getting the soldier to stop calling him by it. 'Have some meat.'

'Yea, meat is good.' Duo accepted the proffered piece of steak gratefully, dropping it messily onto a plate which Scar helpfully supplied. 'First meal I've had in hours!'

'Been prodded by the needle much?' Scar asked, pouring Duo a mug of ale.

'I think the seamstress has something against me.' The prince muttered darkly, draining half the mug. 'I've never been jabbed so many times!'

'Careful there soldier.' Scar gave Duo a disapproving look. 'Don't want you puking your guts out all over the kitchen floor because you drank too much.'

'There will be no puking here!' A kitchen maid barked sternly as passed, casting all three of them evil glares. 'I don't care what rank you are, but you'll be cleaning it.'

'Hear that princeling?' Gil grinned. 'No puking.'

'I'm not going to puke.' Duo growled irritably, breaking off a large portion of bread from the loaf in the middle of the table. Scar gave him an amused look, his grin widening as Duo shoved the section of bread into his mouth and washed it down quickly with some ale.

'You will be puking soon and it won't be because of the alcohol.' The soldier chuckled. 'Nobody would ever guess you're royalty from the way you eat down here.'

Duo would have offered a comment in return, but was too busy trying to swallow the mixture of food and fluid in his mouth. Both Gil and Scar grinned at each other across the table before launching into a torrent of insults and jokes, watching with satisfied looks as Duo pulled indignant faces and struggled to keep his mouth closed. It might have got worse too, had Heero not shown up at that moment. The blue-eyed soldier silently took the seat on Duo's other side, casting both Gil and Scar dark glares which instantly silenced them. Duo quickly chewed some more, swallowing the mouthful finally with a content look on his face.

'That was fairly disgusting.' Heero observed, idly pouring himself a mug of ale and reaching for the bread loaf.

'I was hungry.' Duo retorted, as if it was a perfectly good reason for what he did earlier. Heero only shook his head, pointedly biting off only a small portion of bread from the section he broke from the original.

'So uh...how was your day captain?' Gil asked, finally breaking his silence. Heero shrugged, moving a piece of steak onto his plate.

'At least you weren't prodded by needles.' Duo muttered, draining the rest of his mug. Heero cast him an amused look before his mouth curved into a smile that somehow awoke all the squirming things in Duo's stomach again.

'Yes.' Heero took a sip of his ale. 'I wasn't prodded by needles.'

That seemed to be a suitable ice breaker, because Gil and Scar began talking again, although they made sure not to say anything particularly insulting. Had Duo not know Heero, then he might have found the situation immensely funny, taking into considering Heero's size and age. But if there was anything that Heero's presence demanded, then it was respect, and nobody who knew him would ever try to oppose that.

Except that spy.

Dinner did not last for long after that. Heero finished his meal long before Duo, despite having arrived in the kitchens much later. Duo, seeing that he was being waited on, quickly wolfed down the remainder of his meal before excusing himself and exiting the kitchens. The two of them walked outside, regardless of the darkness that had settled with the arrival of night. They kept walking the entire time, mostly because it was too cold to stop moving, and because Heero never stayed still when walking at night. He probably would have chosen to keep moving during the day as well, although Duo was less than happy to comply with that wish all the time.

'How are things?' The prince asked quietly as they trekked through the gardens.

'About as good as they'll ever be.' Heero sighed. 'I've located a few new leads on the spy, although I am almost certain they're false like the others. However, I'll never know unless I investigate them thoroughly. Security has been raised around the castle and in the town, although I am uncertain just how much good it will do, considering how elusive this guy is turning out to be.'

'You'll find him.'

'Let's hope for your sake I do.' Duo could hear the scowl plaster itself onto the soldier's features. 'Your betrothal ceremony is so soon, and this leak is still sprouting water. If we don't stopper it soon, then I don't know what will happen.'

'I have faith in you.' Duo said with pure conviction.

'Sadly, I don't.' Heero sighed. 'I've known the existence of this spy for years, and still have not found it. We've already risked so many things over the years because of this, but I don't want to put your life on the line because of my own incompetence.'

'Don't say that.' Against Heero's requests, Duo stopped suddenly, grabbing his friend tightly by the shoulder. In the semi-light under the moon and stars, he glared at Heero with as much intensity as he could muster. 'You're doing your best, and that's all I ask for.'

'Sometimes, the best isn't good enough.' Heero's reply was grief-filled as he turned away, his gaze falling to his feet. 'However hard I try is not going to make a difference if you end up dead.'

'Don't be so morbid Heero.' Duo reached for Heero's chin, forcing the soldier to look at him. 'Be realistic, isn't that what you're always saying? I've survived worse than an inanimate spy constantly sitting in the background. Don't worry so much, things will be fine.'

'I wish that were true.' Heero covered Duo's hand gently with his own before pulling it lightly away, releasing his chin from the prince's grip. When Duo's hand dropped back to his side, Heero did not let go. 'I wish I could keep you safe.'

They continued walking after that, neither speaking another word as they circled the gardens and the courtyards.

It was only when they reached Duo's room did Heero let go of Duo's hand.

Part 25

It was three nights before the betrothal ceremony when Duo found himself being pulled roughly from his sleep by a very agitated Relena. For a moment, the prince could not comprehend what was happening as he sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes groggily as Relena dragged him as best as she could out of bed. The prince protested, almost letting out a cry when Relena clamped a sweaty hand over his mouth, silencing him. Duo blinked several times, brain still dazzled by the peaceful dream he had just had.

'What's going on Relena?' He asked at length, finally removing the princess's grip over his mouth.

'Oz bandits in the castle!' She whispered urgently, her voice frantic as she dragged him towards his fireplace.

'Oz?' Suddenly, Duo was wide awake. 'What the hell?'

'They snuck up here during the middle of the night, somehow managed to break in without alerting anybody.' Relena was running her hands down the stone wall next to the fireplace. 'They've torched the guards' quarters! It was only the fires burning that awoke Solo and I.'

'Guards' quarters?' Duo felt his stomach drop. 'How many died?'

'I'm not sure.' Relena seemed to have found what she was looking for, because she was pushing down hard on a particular stone. There was a gravelly sound as the stone fell back, followed immediately by the crunching sound as the wall slide apart ever so slightly to reveal a gap large enough for a man to crawl through. Relena pushed Duo in quickly, and was about to follow when the door to Duo's room burst open. The princess jolted, jumping back quickly to push the wall shut again. Duo yelled at her to come in, but she only cried for him to keep moving. Duo was still pounding on the wall after it had sealed itself again, hearing answering pounds on the other side by Oz soldiers. But the wall did not give way, and the prince could do nothing else but turn his back and start running.

Duo had no clue where he was running to. The passageway was completely dark, musty smelling and filled with spider-webs. The ground rose and fell sharply every so often, startling him and forcing him to trip over the unseen obstacles. Sometimes, the walls would suddenly close in on him, and Duo found himself squeezing through tiny crevices that barely fit him. Often, he would hear sounds next to him, through the walls. There were no holes to see through, but from what he could hear, it was utter pandemonium outside. People screaming, people yelling, the sounds of vases smashing and the metallic sounds of swords clashing. Duo longed to be able to run out there, to help those people, he see what was happening, but he could find no way out. Somehow, he decided that even if there was a way out, he would not be able to access it. The mere idea that there was such a tunnel through the castle astounded him, but only reminded him of Heero that night at White Creek.

With a start, Duo wondered how Heero was going. The soldier always rested in the Guards' Quarters, so did he manage to run out? How many did manage to escape, and how many succumbed to the dark smoke and burning fire? Duo felt irritation and anxiety build in his stomach, yet he could do nothing about it except keep running.

Duo could not remember how long he ran before hearing the voices behind him. Not through the walls, but behind him in the tunnel. He contemplated stopping for a moment, wondering who else had crawled into the tunnel, then he heard the speech that was obviously not the united language of the Alliance, and urged himself to run faster. His scrabbling footsteps must have alerted the Oz soldiers behind him, because their own pace increased. Duo felt panic well in him as he dashed on, unable to see what was around him and armed with nothing but his bare hands. From what he could hear, there were four men behind him. There was the chance that he could knock one down, steal his sword and use it on the others, but how he would manage that in a dark tunnel was beyond him. With this in mind, Duo only urged himself to run faster, desperate to find an exit.

Duo did not know how much longer he spent dashing in that tunnel before reaching what felt like a dead end. He braced his hands against the wall when he got there, turning around with panic buzzing through him as he heard his pursuers approaching. Turning around again, Duo punched at the wall, gaining nothing from his efforts save what would definitely be bruises by the morning on his hands. But when he kicked lower, he heard the sound of stone sliding, and he bent down quickly to feel the outline of a small hole with his hands. Quickly, he scrambled through it, not bothering to figure out how to seal the hole as he pushed himself off the ground and started running again. The sounds of the Oz soldiers died out slowly as they reached the dead end, but Duo knew it would not last, using it as an extra incentive to keep dashing.

His stamina was slowly dying out, and the prince felt stabbing pains push through his chest and feet. He was suddenly struggling to breathe, the air entering flowing through his mouth and nose but never quite reaching his lungs. His bare feet ached, and his mind swam as he ploughed on through what seemed like an endless, dark abyss.

For the second time, Duo found himself smashing into a stone wall. Remembering his earlier experience, he started kicking and punching at the wall in hopes of opening something. He succeeded at length, opening a narrow gap much like the one Relena forced him through. Breathing harshly, Duo forced himself through the crevice, falling lightly onto wet grass. He scrambled up quickly, reveling in being outside where he could see things, and feel something other than hard, broken stone under his feet.

After an initial moment spent coordinating, Duo realized that he was in the section of the gardens closest to the washing lines. In the distance, he could hear yells and screams and clashing swords, indicating the fight that was occurring there. He wanted to run back and help, but as he was, he had no way of doing anything except perhaps making the situation worse. He needed to acquire a weapon somewhere, his mind told him quickly, even as he began crawling back towards the source of the noise.

Quietly, he peeked around the corner, seeing the burning Guards' Quarters and the people fighting in the courtyard. More people were pouring out of the castle, while others streamed in, most of them brandishing things whether they were swords or axes or vases. Dead bodies littered the floor, although Duo could scarce distinguish whether they were Alliance soldiers or Oz or maids. Anxiously, Duo wondered whether his brother had escaped, where Relena was, and where Heero was. He could not make out Heero's fighting style anywhere on the courtyard, but that may have been because he was inside, or dead even, although Duo did not allow himself to think about that.

There was shouting behind him, and Duo realized with a start that he had been discovered. Not that he was particularly hiding, his mind supplied as he bolted towards the castle walls. Arrows flew, skimming past him mostly, but one landed hard in his shoulder. Biting back a cry of pain, Duo ran on, racing for a section of the walls which was suffering a crack from which he could crawl through. He doubted anybody else knew about the hole, considering the unused land on the other side.

As expected, the crack was unguarded, and Duo slipped through awkwardly, the arrow catching on the wall as he pushed himself through. It was dark beyond there, and quiet and empty, just like Duo expected it to be. Quickly, he pushed himself to his feet, barely managing more than a dozen feet before Oz soldiers closed in around him. Duo was stunned for a moment, not knowing where they came from, but that he was suddenly surrounded. He stood still, calculating his chances as he looked around. He would not win, especially not unarmed. Perhaps if he had a sword, then things might tip slightly in his favor, but not barehanded.

Almost as if some supreme god answered his prayers, an over-inquisitive soldier charged at him, sword drawn. Duo ducked quickly, tripping the man over and stepping roughly on his back to force him to release the sword. He did just that, even as the other soldiers came closer. Duo knocked the man out with a hard knock over the back of the head with the hilt of the sword, before meeting swords with another soldier, pushing at the man with as much strength as he had. The soldier pushed back, bracing himself against Duo's weight before the prince ducked quickly, taking his sword with him and letting the man stumble forwards. From his vantage point on the floor, Duo plunged his sword through the man's stomach, grabbing his sword as it fell with his other hand.

Fighting with two swords was a skill Duo perfected far more outstandingly than fighting with one. Two provided him with extra balance and momentum as he swung, forcing the Oz soldiers back and dealing more damage to those who chanced forwards. He hacked madly, letting battle instincts take over and reduce the fight to its basest form: fight for survival. Duo did just that, swinging and yelling and smashing with no calculation and strategy, merely his desire to live.

The group of soldiers eventually fell, only to be replaced with more. Duo continued fighting on, letting the battle slip to a blur. He could not remember how many he killed, or how exactly, only that he was suddenly alone, kneeling in the middle of a massacre with his two swords braced against the ground, keeping him upright while he gasped for air. He might have laughed at his luck, except more Oz soldiers were arriving, and he was not sure he had it in him for another round.

Only this time, they did not attack. The soldiers formed a ring a dozen feet away, standing stiffly as Duo pushed himself unsteadily to his feet, glancing around bemused. When one amongst them entered the circle, Duo let a smile cross his face, glad that this was going to be a one-on-one duel, but not understanding why Oz would allow it after so many deaths. That question was soon answered when that soldier attacked, his speed amazing and so unlike any of the other soldiers Duo fought that night. The prince fought back, allowing himself to slip into battle mode and to fight his best for his own survival again. But there was something about this fight, something that was distinctly wrong and was dragging Duo more and more out of his fighting frenzy. The prince soon found himself fighting consciously, something which rarely occurred, and was unable to understand why. There was just something extremely familiar about the way this soldier moved, the way he fought.

With a start, he realized that this must be the spy Heero was talking about. Somebody he knew, had fought alongside, had analyzed the moves of. Duo knew how to counter, and that was the only thing which was keeping him from death. This soldier was strong, beyond strong. His body was so agile, so fluid as he struck heavy and graceful blows. Duo defended, not managing to land any blows himself but managing to keep his own body unscathed. When the soldier pushed him back from a meeting of swords, Duo staggered, gasping for breath from his efforts of keeping up. But the soldier was lowering his sword and reaching for the hood which shrouded his face, and Duo suddenly wanted to scream and make him keep it on. Even as the man pulled it off, Duo's mind was already rejecting the idea that it could be who he thought.

The hood came off, and it was Heero.

Duo was frozen, his brain unwilling to believe while his subconscious froze entirely. Heero stood before him, weapon at ready just like all those times they spent sparring the courtyard. But this time, this was no spar, no play fight. This was Heero and him fighting for real, Heero admitting that he was the spy that leaked out information, he was the spy that everybody had been trying to find for months. Duo shook his head numbly, dropping the two swords he was previously holding so tightly, his mind searching for a possible explanation beyond the obvious. Heero would not do this to me, he told himself over and over again, Heero was faithful, was loyal, was always fighting for the better of the Alliance, fighting to keep Duo safe. Heero killed Oz soldiers in battle for the Alliance, for Duo. Heero protected Duo from all harm, made sure Duo was always safe. Heero who protected Duo always. Heero who promised he would protect Duo. Heero who wished...

"I wish I could keep you safe."

'Heero.' Duo breathed, and his legs gave beneath him as if murmuring that name confirmed that his best friend really did betray him. The prince shook his head as he kneeled, eyes never leaving Heero's face as he stared. 'It's not true.'

'Hello Duo.' Heero said kindly, walking slowly over. Duo edged away, backing as best as he could on his knees.

'Don't you "hello Duo" me!' The prince yelled, falling backwards to sit on the stone floor. 'You...'

'I'm sorry Duo.' Heero sounded sincerely apologetic, but Duo would buy none of it. Why should he? This man who he thought was his best friend had been lying to him ever since his first night at the castle. When he welcomed Duo into his bed as a sign of comfort, he had already lied to the violet-eyed boy. All those years spent together, and Heero had been working for the enemy?

'Why?' Duo asked, his voice quivering.

'It's my job.' The soldier murmured, his voice conveying his obvious grief. Duo let out a yell of rage, scrambling to his feet, grabbing a sword and charging over. How could Heero do this to him? Had Duo meant nothing to him? The prince lunged, his attack clunky and obvious in his rage, but he did not care. Heero did not even need to use his sword as he reached out and grabbed tightly onto Duo's wrist, forcing the sword away easily with the strength Duo had grown up to rely on.

'I'm sorry Duo.' Heero murmured one final time. Duo wanted to yell back, but a hand came harshly down on the back of his neck, and the world dissolved into darkness.

Part 26

Duo sighed, tugging at the chains around his wrists as he pulled himself into a better sitting position. He could not see the moon outside anymore, having been covered by a mass of clouds. His body was aching all over, his stomach was growling, and he smelled something feral. How much longer would he have to spend here, how many more days of torture and starvation before they decided to kill him, or release him, or whatever. Quite frankly, he no longer cared. There did not seem to be anything that could be worse than what he was experiencing now, rendering any change good change.

There was movement at the door, the sound of a lock being turned. Duo turned away, knowing that he was about to endure more torture. As best as he could, he brought his legs up to the rest of his body, tucking his head slightly to shield himself vaguely from the pain. The door swung open, then closed, followed by soft footsteps approaching. This was a new guy, somebody who had not previously tortured him. Dully, Duo wondered what his tactic was.

The footsteps stopped near him, and still, Duo refused to look over. There was the rustling of clothes as the new guy bent down, closing the distance between them. Duo pressed his face against the wall, his eyes locked on the window overhead, the cloudy sky outside. There was silence for a moment, where neither of them moved. Already, Duo knew who it was, and it was the last person he wanted to see. Hell, he did not want to see that person for as long as he lived.

'I'm sorry Duo.' Heero murmured, sitting down next to Duo, his back leaning against the wall.

'Like hell you are.' The prince growled back harshly, glad that his voice sounded every bit as angry as he felt, although perhaps lacking the base due to his own fatigue.

'Gomen ne.' Heero's voice was barely above a whisper, but Duo heard it anyway. Heard it and he understood, the language of Romefeller.

'Uragirimono.' Duo murmured back in the same language, his violet eyes pained as he continued glaring at the bars, at the sky beyond. 'Heero o shinjimashita.'

'Gomen ne.'

'Urusai!' Duo scrabbled as far away from his former friend as the chains would allow him, the tears flowing down his face despite himself. 'Go Heero, leave me alone.'

'I didn't want to hurt you.'

'Sure you didn't.' Duo finally turned to see the man who had been his friend for so many years. Heero's face was every bit as grief-stricken as Duo's, the sight invoking feelings in Duo, hurting Duo and begging Duo to forgive him. Slowly, the prince let a small smile cross his face, even as the tears continued to stream out of his eyes. 'You're horrible, you know that Heero? Even now, after you've done all those things to me, I still can't bring myself to properly hate you.'

'I love you.' Heero said truthfully, his eyes begging Duo to believe him. 'I swear it, I do.'

'Sad thing is.' Duo turned away, eyes fixed on anything but Heero. 'I think I love you too.'

There was the crunching noise as Heero's boots scrapped on the floor while he got up. There was a moment's silence, while Duo was sure Heero was staring at him, then the silent footfalls as Heero left, the door locking behind him.

With a strangled sob, Duo let out the breath he had unwittingly been holding, and allowed himself to finally break down and cry.

Part 27

Duo awoke from his dreams abruptly, feeling a sudden sense of lack of coordination as he whipped his head around madly, trying his hardest to figure out where he was and what was happening. The ever present chains around his wrists reminded him of his imprisonment long before the rest of the cell did, and Duo let himself collapse against the wall as he realized that freedom was not within his reach. How much longer, was his first thought followed by a significant growl from his stomach. Duo almost laughed, surprised that his stomach still had the strength of the bother to growl. The rest of him did not, especially after Heero's visit the previous night.

Locks rattled, startling Duo and sending him into a defensive pose. When the door opened, it was to reveal an Oz soldier that Duo had not seen before. With a blank face, he marched over with heavy footsteps, bending when he reached Duo to release the chains from the walls. Knowing what was going to happen did not prepare Duo, even as the soldier tugged hard on the chain and sent Duo sprawling to the floor, making loud scraping noises as his body was dragged unceremoniously out the door. Three other soldiers joined them outside, all of them with their hoods on as they followed Duo and the soldier who was dragging him along. The Alliance prince tried to crawl to his feet, but they were bound and exceptionally hard to coordinate in, even if he was not being dragged harshly across the floor. In the end, he settled for relaxing his muscles and letting his body be pulled like it was, feeling a slight moment of victory when the soldier grunted and cursed at Duo's sudden increase in weight.

They stopped abruptly, followed by the sounds of locks being released. A heavy door creaked open, and Duo let himself be pulled in, despite the fear that bubbled in his stomach at what was to come. The chains around his wrists were soon fastened onto the wall, only stretched out as if he was some martyr. His feet were left bound together, his legs in a position that was not quite a crouch nor straight. Sharp pains shot through his thigh after being left like that for long periods of time, and Duo sighed, wondering who had come up with this particular brand of torture. Still, it was nothing compared to what was to come.

Another Oz soldier entered, his face obscured by his hood. The three from earlier now stood in a straight line against the back wall, watching carefully, ready to spring should anything go wrong. The soldier that dragged Duo there had vanished, left the moment he secured Duo's chains to the wall. The Alliance prince scowled, his expression the only form of defiance he could muster in the present situation. If the soldier responded with a similar expression, he could not see it.

A sharp crack as a wooden cane fell upon Duo's shoulder, the same shoulder that had been injured by the arrow only a few days prior. The braided boy let out a hiss of pain, refusing to scream, to give these people any more satisfaction. The cane soon found itself at the very site of the wound, and Duo was allowed a moment to draw his breath before the wooden object was pushed hard into the wound. Duo bit his lip in pain, blood dribbling from both his shoulder and his mouth. Shaking slightly, he lifted his head to glare at his torturer, but could make out nothing but a thin mouth in the shadows the hood provided. Another crack as the cane broke over Duo's knee, eliciting a loud yell from the prince. The violet-eyed boy scrunched up his eyes, the tears escaping regardless. More pain followed, but Duo was too far gone to really feel them. His mind drifted, his body numb, as if the sharp pains belonged to somebody else.

His mind only returned when his arms were being released from the walls, his body collapsing in a heap with the sudden loss of support. The torturer seemed to have left, as had two of the other guards. They were outside, waiting, the job of dragging the prince outside again did not take more than one man. Duo's mind swam, his body both numb and in pain at the same time, and his vision blurred, everything coming in and out of focus at random. The effect made Duo want to throw up. The guard, as if anticipating it, hoisted Duo up quickly, holding him upright with his head bent forwards as Duo's stomach emptied itself on the stone floor. The prince panted heavily, cold sweat drenching his hair and the rags he wore, before another spasm came and Duo vomited once again.

When the vomiting finally ceased, Duo was shaking and crying, the tears mingling with the sweat on his face. The guard pulled him away from the mess, before dropping him gently on the floor and wiping away the perspiration on the boy's face.

'Hello Heero.' Duo greeted, his voice hoarse and hollow. With agonizing slowness, he lifted one of his arms, the limb suddenly feeling like it weighed more than Duo's body, and settled the hand on Heero's face under the hood. The soldier smiled weakly, his own warm hand falling over Duo's in a way that so reminded Duo of that last time they walked around the gardens.

'Hello Duo.' Heero's voice was choked with tears, the wetness now slipping into Duo's hands. They stayed like that a second longer before Heero wrenched Duo's hand away and pressed his mouth close to the prince's ear. 'Listen, this is the main Oz headquarters. Without this, Oz cannot function, and Romefeller is helpless.'

'What are you saying?'

'Remember that Duo.' Then Heero was dragging on his chains, pulling Duo out the door like all the previous soldiers. The guards followed as always outside, stopping when they reached Duo's cell's door. Heero pushed it open roughly, making a show of throwing Duo roughly inside before closing the door behind him. Gently, the soldier pulled Duo gently off the floor, setting him down against the wall he was usually chained up at. Duo watched dazed as the soldier moved away, fumbling with something near the barred window, his actions silent. A sudden metallic sound echoed around, the noise reminding Duo of the one made when his chains were being fixed into the walls. Only that was the sound of the bars falling into Heero's grasp as one. Hurriedly, the soldier placed it quietly on the stone floor, before walking quickly over and pulling Duo up, picking the prince up and hoisting him through the window.

'This place is about a day's walk from L1. Once you get outside, avoid the soldiers and make for East. Go quickly, because scouts will be looking for you soon enough.'

Before Duo could say anything back, Heero had severed the ropes around Duo's legs, removed the chains around Duo's wrists, and pushed him out the window, letting Duo land with a thump on the grass outside. The bars were shoved roughly back in position, and Duo heard the sound of the door being wrenched open and shut quickly. Not needing any more incentive and still dazed at the idea of being free, Duo scrambled to his feet and ran for his life.

Part 28

A day's walk for a normal man may have sufficed the journey back to L1, but starving, tired, broken and bleeding, the trip home ended up taking Duo more than two days. By the time he finally stumbled into the guards at the door, he was slipping out of consciousness, and for a moment just before he went, Duo wondered if the guards recognized him at all. The comforting warmth he woke up to was proof enough, and the prince blinked blearily as he looked around, recognizing the room as his old chambers.

'You're awake!' Relena's voice was unusually high, her weight unusually heavy as she hugged him tightly. 'Oh god, we thought you would never wake.'

'I can't breathe!' The prince murmured hoarsely, the sound startling Relena to release him immediately. The prince grinned tiredly, his muscles sore all over, but feeling better than he had in days. 'Did you miss me?'

'Oh Duo, you would not believe how worried we were.' Relena was crying. 'I was cursing myself when I pushed you through that tunnel unawares, they were after you! Didn't bother trying to catch anybody else, just you. The traitor, oh Duo, you would never believe it! It was--'

'Heero.' Duo took in a shuddering breath. 'I know, he was the one that freed me.'

'What?'

'There's a massive Oz base to the west of here. It would take under a day's ride.' Duo tried to sit up, his muscles complaining. Relena saw him struggling, and quickly reached to help him up. 'Tell Solo.'

'I will, don't worry.' Relena smiled sadly. 'You rest now.'

'Where is Solo?'

'Swearing black and blue that anybody dared hurt his brother so.' Relena smiled fondly. 'Your brother and father both have a remarkably colorful vocabulary.'

'Go Relena.' Duo smiled. 'Take those bastards down.'

'Of course.' Relena sprung towards the door immediately. 'I'll pass the message right now.'

Part 29

Duo was confined to bed for the next two weeks before he was declared well enough to walk around, and even then, he had to hobble with a cane and someone present at all times. His father had brought him a new guard, a familiar dark-haired boy who bumped into Duo once in town and stole his purse, with a chain of other guards constantly lurking somewhere in the background, making sure nothing bad happened. Duo found the whole situation rather unnerving, especially since his father would not let him sleep without someone watching. No privacy whatsoever, Duo thought dully, but understandable, considering what had just happened. A messenger arrived only days after Duo initially came to, bringing with him news that the raid on the Oz headquarters was successful, and Oz was surrendering unconditionally. Duo cheered with everybody else, but could not help but wonder what was happening to Heero.

'You should rest.' His guard observed, watching as Duo hobbled ungainly down the front steps of the castle.

'I'm fine!' The prince scowled, tripping immediately afterwards on his cane and falling over. Wufei pulled a face before rushing over, barking something loud and calling Duo a string of variations of the word stupid. Duo scowled, more out of pain that anything else, as Wufei hoisted him back onto his feet, passing him his cane while he was at it. The prince cursed, throwing the cane back on the ground in a fit of rage. His guard scowled similarly, calling him an imbecile. The violet-eyed prince could only wonder what was it about him that always drew such rude guards and the title "imbecile".

'Don't be such a child Maxwell.' Wufei reached for the cane again, thrusting it into Duo's hands. 'You can throw your cane around after you learn how to walk again.'

'Stupid weak knee.' Duo muttered under his breath. Wufei snorted.

'Stop complaining Maxwell.'

'I'll stop when this knee stops being so uncooperative.' Duo sighed, letting the cane steady him as he sat down on the lowest step, his leg jutting out awkwardly because of its inability to bend without hurting. Wufei sat down next to him, black eyes ever vigilant as he looked carefully around for potential dangers. Duo was suddenly reminded of that time so long ago, when he had fallen asleep on the steps waiting for his brother and Heero to come back from war. With a sad smile, to conceded to the fact that Heero would not be coming back. All the Oz soldiers discovered were forced into either prison or slavery, with the highest security around them to ensure that none tried to escape. Even if Heero had been caught by the Alliance soldiers, he was not coming back to the castle. Nobody would allow it, not with what he did the previous time over his shoulders.

'Hey 'Fei?'

'That's Wufei.' The guard corrected. 'What?'

'Can we go down to town?'

'You're to stay within the castle.' Wufei repeated his orders stiffly. 'Those were the orders given by his Highness the king.'

'Yea well, here are the orders given by his not-so-highness the prince.' Duo grinned. 'Please?'

'You can barely walk Maxwell.' Wufei scowled. 'I'm not going to carry you back.'

'I won't, I promise.'

'You aren't in any situation to make such promises.'

'I'll make you this one!' Duo gave Wufei and earnest look. 'Please?'

'Fine.' Wufei sighed. 'You'd better be worth getting in trouble for.'

Duo grinned as Wufei helped him to his feet, walking stiffly be Duo's side as they walked through the main entrance. The guards stopped them there, repeating the king's orders while Wufei insisted that they had new orders. The guards denied it, refusing to let them pass unless confirmation was given. Wufei quickly struck both men behind their necks, knocking them out while giving Duo a sharp look. The prince grinned, offering his thanks.

The trip down to town was more stressful than Duo would have thought, but he accomplished it regardless. Wufei, for all his gruffness, was gentle with him when he stumbled, his own glare enough to rival Heero's at repelling salesmen and other unwanted guests. Duo met up with Claire and Derek, both laughing at Duo's cane and comparing him to an old man, only to run off giggling when Duo started brandishing the wooden object menacingly.

The four of them were sitting outside a tavern, Duo and Derek enjoying a bottle of wine while Claire and Wufei glared disapprovingly, when another hooded merchant approached them. Wufei glared, but to no avail, since the guy kept on coming. Duo set down the bottle, wondering what kind of a person this was to be able to resist Wufei's evil glares so well, when the guy bent down and offered them a peek at his wares.

'Could I interest you with some dried fruits?' The man asked, and Wufei was positively glowering, reaching for his sword for effect. The merchant did not move, still holding the small package of wares before him, his face ever shrouded by the hood he wore. Duo did not need him to remove the hood as his breath stopped, his eyes fixed on the merchant, daring him to believe it was who he thought it was.

Under the shadow of the hood, a mouth twisted into a familiar smile, and Duo dropped all propriety as he leapt forward and engulfed the man in a hug. Heero stumbled backwards, losing balance as Duo tackled him over, arm around him tightly as if frightened that he might disappear. Heero pulled his hood off as he straightened himself and Duo, removing both of them from the ground even while Duo buried his face in Heero's chest, tears falling.

'Baka.' Duo mumbled into Heero's cloak, his grip never loosening. 'Heero wa baka desu.'

'Gomen ne.' Heero whispered back, his voice barely audible. 'Gomen ne.'

'Heero o daikirai.' Duo cried, still holding onto the man who had been with him from day one tightly. 'Daikirai...'

'Wakarimashita.'

'Heero wa hidoi desu! Hidoi!'

'Hai.' Duo continued gripping onto Heero, and the man held him tightly back, his chin resting gently on Duo's head as he apologized over and over again. There was suddenly no one else around, just Duo and Heero, locked in their embrace, both still sitting on the dusty floor. Slowly, Duo lifted his head, his face shining with tears as he gazed into Heero's eyes, seeing the regret and apology there. Slowly, he let a smile crawl across his face, the tears still flowing.

'Okaeri.' He murmured, reaching for Heero's face.

'Tadaima.' Heero covered Duo's hand with his own, his grip warm as always. 'Tadaima.'

Author's Notes:

How wondrously sappy an ending. Urk, sappy does not even describe it. Fluff I say! Anyway, translations for the Japanese used (unsure whether they are correct, having had only a few lessons on the language from a friend at school).

Okaeri -- Welcome home
Tadaima -- I'm home
Gomen ne -- I'm sorry
Uragirimono -- traitor
Heero o shinjimashita -- [I] trusted Heero
Urusai -- Shut up!
Baka -- Idiot
Heero o daikirai -- [I] hate Heero
Wakarimashita -- I know/I understand
Hidoi -- Cruel/mean

I used a Latin sentence a few times throughout the story: Ad majorem gentis gloriam, which is a modified version of the quote "Ad majorem dei gloriam". The original quote meant "for the greater glory of god", but I changed it say for the greater glory of the nation, which is more applicable in this sense. Personally, I don't do Latin, never learnt it. But my friend, the multi-lingual Elf girl who will only go on to learn more languages until she can provide fifty different translations for the same sentence told me that it was correct, or should be correct.

Well, when I started writing this story, I did plan on making it slightly more middle-ages sounding, but somewhere along the lines, I just got stuck into contemporary English and couldn't get out of it. Hope that was not too much for you readers to swallow. On a side note, in the event that people did not understand why Milliardo had to be killed for the "supposed glory of the nation", it's because he was the heir of the throne. Once eliminated, because there are no others, the throne would belong to Relena, who is married to Solo, and hence leaves the Sanq Kingdom an official part of the Alliance. Or something to that effect...