When I met them in the beginning, I didn't care. They were the same to me -- both of them were liabilities. Both of them proved me wrong. I never saw them often but when I did, I remembered. He was loud. She spoke with confidence. He liked to talk to me. She liked to get my attention. They were both strong-willed people who needed my protection and denied it. The only difference was that she was the bright hope for the future and he was the past that should be left behind.

She was the untouchable sky and he was the dusty earth and that was why I chose to treasure her and not him. Their similarities blended in my head and because I could not touch her, I touched him. The afternoon she fell from the balcony and I bound her ankle, I found him, saw her on the subtle curve of his lips, and kissed him.

I never meant to make him a substitute but it was already too late by the time I realized it. I never let him stay with me for long -- I still had to protect her and he still had his delivery jobs. I could never let him come if I was going to see her. It would hurt him. He asked about it sometimes, if we could stay with each other whether it meant settling somewhere or traveling together. Then a few days, sometimes even a week would pass and if he didn't leave, I would.

A year passed and she grew stronger and more mature. He stayed the same, seeking me and the other pilots, who he said were like family. He was always laughing when he saw me. I thought it meant he was happy, and may have continued thinking that except for the chance meeting.

It was a political treaty that she was to sign and that Quatre Winner had been invited to attend as an important head of the corporate world. There was a rumor of possible trouble so I was there, watching over her. He had been close by for a job and ended up going with Quatre.

When I saw him, I knew I should have left before he saw me. But I couldn't for her.

They were in the same room when I finally realized the threat was a bomb. When I found it, it was ticking down to its last seconds. There was only time to run in, grab her hand, and shout a warning to the others in the room before I took her from the room and it exploded, with him still inside it.

He wouldn't die that easily but he was still in the hospital for a week. I went to see him after Relena checked out that day. She had only suffered from a few bruises and a small shock. He had broken three ribs, dislocated a shoulder, bruised a kidney, and had a mild concussion. He had also acquired two new stitches, one down his shoulder and the other along his knee where they would scar white later.

He was waiting when I went in his room. His breath caught twice and rattled under the tight bandages covering his chest.

She had an assured smile. He had a joyful one.

When that grin stretched elastic-thin and then snapped, his unhappiness began to spill over, upwelling.

"Why did you do have to do this to me? You're goddamned cruel, Hee--Yuy!" It came in a whistling hiss. His slightly crooked white teeth clenched tight. "I knew -- I know you're just settling for second best though god only knows how the hell you even saw some twisted connection between me and the Queen of the World!"

He paused, opening his eyes until his eyelids could go no further and I realized he was trying to evaporate the water there before it could overflow.

"You're not a lesser version of Relena."

The white of his eyes were slowly veining pink. "Don't lie to me! I'm not as stupid as you think, Hee--Yuy! Why did you have to drag me into this?? She loves you too! You're so goddamn selfish!! Just because you're too coward to face her, you --" His jaw went tighter and he turned his eyes up to the ceiling.

"Duo --"

"Just get out. I'm tired of being a stand-in." His voice was congested.

"I --"

"I don't want to see you anymore." His breath settled and came more steadily as his eyes closed. He was drifting into sanctuary.

I didn't realize what he was saying until a week had passed and he finally left the hospital to resume his deliveries again. There was another threat on her life three weeks later but when I saw her soft smile and elegant gratitude, I didn't see him in her pale hair or hear his eager psychobabble in her happy speech. And for the first time, I saw two completely different people who were the most important to me -- and I wanted to see him and not her.

His eyes were huge and his mouth came slightly open when he walked into the warehouse and stopped in mid-whistle. "Hee--" He began before he blinked, turned and began to go the way he had come. His whistling was more air than melody and a small cough escaped before he tried to resume again. The notes came random. He had forgotten his tune, trying to pretend he hadn't seen me.

"Stay with me."

The next note squeaked to a stop.

"I told you I don't want to see you. I'm not a princess number two or whatever you think I am! Just cause I have long hair and big eyes doesn't mean I'm a girl, stupid!" His footsteps quickened.

"I know."

And when I jogged to shorten the distance and caught his wrist, he turned on instinct, looking up at me before his eyes fell away to the ground. The tip of his nose was turning slightly red and he tried to sniff subtly. "Let me go."

"She's important to me...but...you..." It was difficult to put my acknowledgement into words. "I...you're the one I want to stay with, Duo...forever...not Relena."

He was still for a moment and then there was a tiny tap on my shoe. When I looked down, I saw a small splash of liquid. He wrenched his arm away from me and began to wipe at his face with the heel of one hand and then the other. When I stepped close again and put my arms around him, he finally leaned in and I realized I missed his warmth and wondered how I never noticed this vulnerability that she would never have.

His hands still covered his face and his words were distorted by them when he spoke. "I'm so pathetic..."

I couldn't help the snort that escaped me and tightened my grip, inhaling the faint scent of his shampoo. "I'm sorry."

When he looked up, his skin was splotchy red and his eyelashes and hair stuck together in clumps from tears and sweat. His stubborn expression was the most attractive one I had ever seen. "You only get one second-chance, Heero."

And those were the best words I would ever hear.