"Duo! Other people need to use the bathroom, too!"

"Just a minute!"

"Hurry up, baka, we don't have all day!"

"Heero, if you keep yelling at him, he'll *never* come out!"

Duo shook his head silently and snickered. <Nice choice of words, Quatre! I'd hurt you if I didn't trust you enough to keep your mouth shut.>

Finishing his braid, Duo paused to study his reflection, frowning slightly. He still thought his face looked a bit too delicate, that his body was still a little too curvy. He pulled his shirt over his head, smiling slightly at the fact that it helped disguise those curves. <Perfect,> he thought. <Now Duo Maxwell is ready to face the world.>

"I swear, he primps more than a girl," Heero grumbled to himself just as Duo strolled into the room. He nearly paused in mid-stride, shooting an accusatory look at Quatre. The Arabian pilot shook his head fractionally; it was a harmless comment. Duo fought back the urge to kick Heero in the back of the head and instead flung his arms around the stoic pilot of Wing.

"Aw, but that's what you guys love about me!" he cooed, smirking at the Japanese teen's discomfort. Quatre snickered slightly and sipped at his tea; Trowa made no outward sign of acknowledgment. Wufei smiled slightly before allowing his normal non-expression to fall into place once more.

"Hai, that's what we love about you, Maxwell," he said, trying to get things moving normally again. "Any new missions come in?"

Heero extricated himself from Duo's embrace, pointedly ignored the boy's pout, and cleared his throat. "Hai. Two pilots need to infiltrate the St. Thomas Private School. Several OZ plans are being held in the school's database, and whoever goes will have to maintain their cover until the mission is over."

"What's so difficult about that?" Quatre asked, brow furrowing slightly. "We've posed as students before."

Heero remained silent for a moment, then continued with a pointed stare at both Wufei and Duo: "St. Thomas is an all-girl school."

Several minutes of silence passed in the kitchen; Duo looked about ready to faint, while Wufei didn't look that much better.

"NO!" both the American and Chinese pilot shouted at the same time. The other three blinked at the forcefulness behind the words.

"I will NOT go into some girls' school, I will NOT wear those damn school uniforms, and I will KILL you if you even suggest it again!" Duo snarled, turning on his heel and storming out of the kitchen. His fellow pilots watched him leave, blinking in stunned surprise(*). Heero shook his head slightly.

"I expected that from you," he told Wufei, who turned and glared at the Japanese boy before storming off to his own room to pack. Quatre cleared his throat.

"I'll go talk to Duo," he offered softly. At Heero's nod, the Arabian youth left the safety of the kitchen and headed for his friend's room. As he walked, he shook his head slightly and sighed. It would be just like Heero to automatically choose Duo for the mission--Duo, with his near-feminine looks and long chestnut tresses--and the pilot of Sandrock sighed.

<Told Duo to cut that braid off,> he thought wryly, and then knocked on the door. "Duo?" he called softly. "Can I come in?"

Silence; then a muffled "You alone?" The other's voice sounded choked; was Duo crying?

"Hai," he replied. Hearing no sound of refusal, Quatre opened the door and slipped quietly into the Deathscythe pilot's room. The longhaired pilot had peeled off his shirt and was lying prone on the bed, head buried in arms, shoulders shaking as the tears came. The Arabian boy sighed softly and dropped onto the bed next to his friend, rubbing the other's back in a soothing manner.

"It's not as if he knows," Quatre offered softly. Duo sat up suddenly, violet eyes blazing.

"No, but he's too damn close for comfort!" the pilot cried, voice hitting a nearly fevered pitch. "Infiltrate a school? No prob, I can do that in my sleep! Flirt constantly with anyone and everyone? Absolutely! Wear a dress, act like a lady? Sorry, not my forte!" The American slumped back onto the bed, well aware of Quatre's watchful gaze. "So what if I'm a girl?" Duo mumbled almost to herself. "I can't go back to that anymore."

Quatre pulled his friend into a comforting embrace, closing his eyes as she stiffened slightly before relaxing into the embrace. "I know, Duo-chan," he whispered softly. "I know."

~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~

(*) ::snicker:: I can't believe it! I've done that in TWO stories now!! 
::collapses into a fit of laughter::

~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~

Heero walked past the closed door of Duo's room, leaning close to it just long enough to hear the sound of muffled conversation. Duo sounded much more cheerful now, laughing and joking with Quatre. The pilot of Wing Zero smiled to himself--he knew Duo would calm down about the whole thing eventually. The next order of business was the make sure Wufei was ready to leave.

"I wouldn't go in there if I were you," Trowa said from his room, spotting Heero as the other boy walked past. Heero made no reply, and the European youth shrugged his shoulders. "Fine, don't come crying to me when he kills you," he mumbled to no one in particular.

As he opened the door to the Chinese pilot's room, Heero found the gleaming edge of a sword pointed at his neck. Wufei glared at him from the other end, and made no move as if to let the Japanese pilot any further into the room.

"Calm down, Wufei," Heero mumbled, keeping his eyes on the blade inches away from his flesh. "You act like I chose this mission on purpose or something."

"Oh, *sure*, it's just a coincidence!" Wufei ranted, dropping the sword (much to Heero's immense relief). "Wufei's got long hair, so we'll throw him in a dress with that longhaired baka and march 'em off to St. Thomas! Sure, he's a guy, but hey! there's only one chick in the group so we gotta compromise!"

Heero blinked at Wufei, confusion etched across his features. "Relena's not a pilot," he said, trying to figure out what the other pilot was ranting about.

"I'M TALKING ABOUT MAXWELL, DAMMIT!"

From a few doors down the hall, a glass could be heard breaking as someone let out a sharp gasp. Trowa peered around the door, eyes wide at the accusation Wufei'd just made. Duo and Quatre joined him quickly, the braided pilot glaring daggers at Shenlong's pilot.

"Duo's a guy, Wufei. We've been over this a thousand times."

"WHAT?!" Duo shrieked, storming into the room to get up in Heero's face. "You actually sit around when I'm not here and DISCUSS this?!"

"See? If it walks, talks, screams, and rants like a girl--" Wufei never got to finish the thought, for Duo chose that moment to show the Chinese boy just how UN-girlish she could be. He sat up and rubbed his jaw, glaring up at the self-proclaimed Shinigami, who simply glared back for a moment before turning to Heero.

"And just HOW fucking long are we supposed to stay at that school?" Duo growled, repeating the mantra 'I-will-not-kill-him-I-will-not-kill-him' over and over in her head.

Heero swallowed nervously before mumbling, "Two months." Silence fell over the room; then Trowa snickered.

"One of them won't be coming back alive," he managed to get out before collapsing to the floor with laughter. Quatre raised one eyebrow and shook his head; Heero glared at the normally somber pilot; Duo and Wufei let off glaring at one another to glare at Heero.

"I am gong back to my room to finish packing," Duo said, barely managing to control her anger. "If anyone other than Quatre even *attempts* to talk to me before tomorrow morning, we will be running a few pilots short." With that, and a toss of her braid, the American pilot strode out of the room. The slamming of her door made it clear that she was *very* serious.

Wufei grumbled something about longhaired bakas under his breath and ushered everyone out of his room. Trowa had one parting remark for him, though:

"Good luck, Wufei. You're gonna need it!"

~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~

"Heero is a dead man," Wufei muttered quietly to himself the next day as he walked into St. Thomas Private School, keeping his eyes carefully averted from Duo. The American hadn't said one word to him ever since she'd decked him the day before, and he wasn't exactly looking forward to when she decided to start jabbering away again. Although... he did kinda miss hearing her voice, and maybe spending two months with the pilot from L2 wouldn't be *that* bad....

<Wufei no baka!> he told himself brusquely. <It's bad enough that you had to take this stupid mission, but to be on it with MAXWELL?! Heero knows I like the damned baka, I'll bet that's the reason he was so adamant about us taking this one.> He frowned and concluded the thought: <Even if he denies it, I know Maxwell's a girl. And I'm sure Quatre knows it, too.>

A slight twinge of jealousy rose up in him, and he swore as he shoved it aside. <Keep focused on the mission!>

"I've got first dibs on the bastard," Duo mumbled in response to his earlier words, finally breaking her silence. She then turned a stony glare on the Chinese pilot. "And if you even make another comment like you did last night, you won't have to worry about exacting revenge on Heero." She tossed her braid over her shoulder and, head held high, marched into the principal's office to register.

Wufei watched her go, admiring the way she filled out the school uniform. Shaking his head, he smoothed his own uniform skirt and ran a hand through his loose hair. <If Yuy were here now, he wouldn't be saying Duo was a male!> he thought, smirking to himself as he followed his fellow pilot into the office. <She fills out that uniform a bit *too* well to be a guy!>

~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~

"This *sucks*!" Duo whined in frustration, banging her head against the wall. "First I have to come on this stupid mission with *you* in the first place; thenwe find out Heero--the friggin' sadist--put us in the same damned *room*; and to top it all off--"she paused dramatically, faking a swoon and collapsing onto the bed--"RELENA SHOWS UP!"

Wufei fought the urge to laugh at his fellow pilot's antics and quirked an eyebrow in her direction. "It's not *that* bad," he commented lightly, a small smile gracing his features. He knew that from the way Duo was lying on the bed that she couldn't see the expression... which was for the best.

Or so he told himself.

"Not that bad?!" Duo nearly shrieked, sitting up so fast that her braid thumped hard against her back. "She still thinks we're hiding Heero here somewhere! How can we possibly finish the damned mission if she's hovering over us every second?!"

Wufei looked up from the transmission he was reading to regard the braided pilot. Both had changed into their customary garb the minute they returned to their room, Duo disappearing as always into the bathroom to change. The Chinese pilot knew damn well that Duo wasn't *that* shy; the fact that the American repeated the same routine every day since they'd arrived only reinforced his conviction that the pilot of Deathscythe was a female. Even now, dressed in the familiar priest garb, the feminine air that had become more apparent during the mission bled through Duo's defenses.

It was actually quite endearing.

A knock on the door interrupted him as he was getting ready to speak. Duo glanced over at the door in mock-terror and jumped from the bed. Before he had a second to even think 'What the hell is that girl doing *now*?', she pulled Wufei out of his chair and positioned him between herself and the door.

"Oi, Wufei! It's the evil Relena-beast! Save me!" The stoic Chinese youth snorted (Duo grinned--she clearly heard the barely suppressed chuckle) and moved towards the door, attempting to pry Duo's arms from around him as he did so. The American pilot reluctantly let go just as they got to the door. To be perfectly honest, she found herself *liking* the pilot of the Gundam Shenlong.

But Duo Maxwell would *never* admit to it... unless she was asked. As she always said, she would run and hide, but she'd never lie. And it was so hard to resist those beautiful black-brown eyes....

Wufei sighed as he opened the door to reveal, as Duo had guessed, Relena. He could hear the self-proclaimed Shinigami making choking noises behind him before falling--hard--to the floor. It was all he could do to not laugh at the image that put in his mind. "What do you want, Relena?" he asked, moving aside to let the girl into the room. Duo (thank Gods) had picked herself up off the floor and was seated innocently on the bed, playing with the end of her braid and smiling her usual little grin.

"Hiya, Rei-chan!" she said cheerfully enough, even though mentally she was fuming. <You just *had* to show up right when it looked like Mr. Serious was going to act like a normal person, didn'tcha?!> "What brings you here?" she continued sweetly.

Relena looked at her with undisguised curiosity. When she'd first found out that two of the pilots were going undercover at St. Thomas, she'd been skeptical. When she'd learned it was Duo and Wufei, she'd been intrigued. But she had actually mistaken Maxwell for a girl(1) the first time she saw him in the school uniform. Wufei had been pretty convincing himself, but Duo just seemed to radiate femininity while in disguise.

Hell, he was radiating it *now*, whether he was aware of it or not.

"I was wondering if Heero--"

"Damn it, he's not *here*!" Duo shouted, dropping her braid, eyes flashing as she glared at Relena. "How many damned times do I have to tell you that?!"

"What's the matter, afraid of competition?" the girl shot back, not even aware she was doing it until the shocked look crossed Duo's face. <Oh, shit, what did I just say?!>

Duo stood, back held straight. For once, she didn't try to disguise her movements, make them more masculine, as she stalked across the room to Relena. She was too pissed at the moment to think straight. Getting right up in the other girl's face, she hissed out eight words that shocked *both* Relena and Wufei:

"He's not my type. I prefer scholarly guys." With that, she tossed her braid back over her shoulder and headed for the door, pausing only long enough to glance back at Wufei. "I'll be back in a little while. I just need to get outta here for a while." Wufei nodded mutely, and was graced with a tiny smile before the American turned and left the room.

"Wufei?" Relena asked in a tiny voice, feeling as if she'd just made a mess out of everything. "Wha--"

The look he sent her way quickly made her change her mind about saying whatever it had been on the tip of her tongue to say.

"I think you should leave now," he said in a soft tone that promised that if she didn't comply he would toss her out of the room himself. Relena blinked, then turned on her heel and left. Moving down the hall, she tried to figure out where she would go if she was Maxwell before heading for the elevator bank.

There were a few things she had to clear up with the Shinigami pilot before she made things worse than she already had.

~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~

Duo lay back on the ground and sighed, staring up at the starts overhead. She loved the nighttime sky--it reminded her very much of her life on L2, before Maxwell Church--

Shaking her head, Duo resolved to forget the tragedy for a little while and just enjoy the view. A small smile graced her features, and she sighed in contentment. It was easy to forget about that when there were nicer things to remember.

For the past month, she'd been waking up in the middle of the night and watching Wufei sleep. He looked so peaceful and sweet when he was sleeping, and it made her feel warm all over to just sit and listen to his soft breathing; once, she'd brushed his bangs back out of his face and was rewarded with a soft sigh and a little smile before he rolled over on his side away from her.

<He's just too kawaii for my own good,> Duo resolved, closing her violet eyes. <If we're here for too much longer, I might just have to admit that I'm  falling--NO! Don't even think that, Duo Maxwell! Don't you dare!>

A shadow crossed over the light of the moon, and she frowned slightly as she opened one eye to see what it was. "Relena?"

The blonde-haired girl nervously twirled a lock of hair around one finger. "Anou, Duo, could I talk to you?"

<So much for privacy,> she thought to herself as she nodded and sat up. Relena sat down on the ground next to her and looked at her intently. It seemed as if the queen of the world was looking for something, and Duo fidgeted under that relentless gaze.

"Rei-chan? What did you want to talk about?" she asked, hoping that her voice didn't sound as nervous as she felt. The other girl blinked once, twice; then, apparently satisfied with what she had found, nodded her head slightly.

"You really *are* a girl, aren't you?" she asked quietly. From the stunned look on Duo's face--not to mention the suddenly self-conscious way she crossed her arms over her chest--Relena knew that she'd guessed correctly. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," she said, laying a gentle hand on Duo's arm.

"Arigatou, Rei-chan," came the whispered reply. Her voice sounded different-- less forced and somehow more lilting. <That's probably her normal speaking voice,> Relena realized, eyes widening slightly. Duo smiled up at her and continued, "Don't worry about keeping it a secret, though. Quatre already knows--he, anou, accidentally walked in on me in the shower one day--and I'm almost positive that Wu knows, too."

<I prefer scholarly guys.>

"You like him, don't you?"

Duo snapped her head up, eyes wide and innocent. "Nani?!"

"Wufei," Relena said softly, almost certain that the braided girl would bolt if she spoke too harshly to her. "You like him."

<I run, I hide, but I never lie,> Duo thought with a purely mental sigh. "Hai," she said softly, closing her eyes and sighing aloud. "Heero's a sadist. He purposely put us in the same room, I know it."

"Why do you--" Relena began, only to be interrupted by a soft laugh from Duo.

"Wufei told me the baka admitted as much to him!" Duo smiled serenely then, a far-away look coming to her eyes. "He's so cute when he's sleeping, though," she said. "I'll have to thank Yuy before I gut him."

To her surprise, Relena laughed. Duo watched her, wide-eyed. She managed to get her laughter under control enough to stammer, "Gomen, I didn't mean to laugh, it's just--" then her giggles caught up with her and she collapsed into a fit of laughter at the mental image of Duo saying 'Hey, Heero, thanks for putting me and Wu in the same room, I'm going to have to kill you now.' The corners of Duo's mouth quirked slightly, and soon both girls were laughing in a heap on the ground.

Finally, Duo wiped her tears from her eyes and grinned at Relena. "Oi, y'know what, Rei-chan?"

Relena, still giggling, shook her head and said "What?"

"I think we'd make pretty good friends." Relena blinked, then smiled slowly.

"Hai, Duo-chan," she said. "We could be good friends."

~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~

Several hours later, Duo walked back to the room she was sharing with Wufei, smiling to herself.

<This mission hasn't been a total drag after all,> she thought as she glanced around to make sure no one saw her before pushing the door open. <I've been able to act like a girl without fear of being found out; I've found a potential best friend in Relena(2); and,> she added as she caught sight of Wufei sprawled out on his bed asleep, <I get to spend as much time as I want admiring one extremely* beautiful guy. Life is good.>

Unable to resist the urge to do so, Duo leaned over and dropped a butterfly kiss on Wufei's cheek. He made a contented sound in his sleep and rolled over onto his side. The girl smiled slightly and whispered in her normal voice, "Got tired of waiting up for me, ne?" before slipping into the bathroom to changed into her PJs and brushing out her hair.

As the door closed behind her, Wufei cracked open one eye and smiled slightly at the closed bathroom door. "I'll wait forever if I have to, Maxwell," he whispered softly before closing his eyes again. By the time Duo was finished rebraiding her hair and ready to crawl into her own bed, Wufei was truly asleep.

Duo gave him another feather-soft kiss before tumbling into her own bed. "We're both a couple of idiots, aren't we?" she asked the sleeping form as she drifted off into her own dreams, all of which involved herself and the Chinese boy across the room...

~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~

(1) That was no mistake, Relena hon. Duo is a girl in this story. Deal with
it.

(2) Every person I know has a best girl friend. And, since Duo spends all her
time with the guys, Relena is the logical choice as a best girl friend (that,
and the fact that she's around almost as much as the other pilots...)

~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~

Duo typed furiously at the keyboard, singing softly to herself and totally oblivious to the fact that Wufei was awake. He remained on the bed, feigning sleep and smiling to himself as the girl sang in her sweet alto:

O/~ 'Cause I can feel you breathe
It's washin' over me
And suddenly I'm melting into you
There's nothing left to prove
Baby you're with me
Let's just be
Caught up in the touch
The slow and steady rush
Baby isn't that the way that love's
Supposed to be
I can feel you breathe
Ju~~~~st breathe o/~

Who knew that Duo was a Faith Hill fan?(1)

He shifted slightly on the bed; not much, but enough for Duo to snap her mouth closed and turn in the chair to face him. "'bout time you woke up, sleepyhead!" she said brightly, seeming to not notice that she was still speaking in her normal voice. "I think I've just about got the last blueprint downloaded onto the disk, then we can amscray outta here!" <Even if I would love to spend another week with you,> she added mentally. <But, there's no more need for it, and we can both go back to playing our normal roles. It was nice to act like a girl for a while, though.>

Wufei nodded silently and quickly pulled his clothes on. He saw Duo watching covertly out of the corner of her eye and smiled to himself. She really was cute, even if she didn't realize it. Duo began humming "Breathe" again, smiling to herself as she typed. Wufei smiled again and glanced out the window, then froze in place. "Duo?"

The braided pilot turned her head in his direction once again and quirked an eyebrow. Wufei was staring out the window, an indiscernible expression on his face. He didn't say anything else, just inclined his head towards the window. Curious, the Shinigami pilot bounced out of her chair and strode across the room. When she glanced out the window, her eyes widened. "Oh, shit! What the hell are OZ soldiers doing here?!"

"They must have found out that someone was tapping into the database and came to investigate," Wufei answered, grabbing his bag and tossing the last of his belongings into it quickly. Duo did likewise on the other side of the room, snatching the disk out of the drive and quickly snapping the laptop shut. That finished, both pilots dashed from the room and into the stairwell. The door closed behind them just as a soldier caught sight of them.

"Damn it, they know we're here," Duo mumbled under her breath. "If they catch us..."

"I know, Maxwell, *believe* me, I know!" Wufei interrupted, a frown creasing his brow. OZ didn't know that the pilot of Deathscythe was female any more than Heero or Trowa did; and the Chinese pilot did *not* want to think about what they might do to her if they found out. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, the Shenlong pilot glanced up at a vent on the wall. "Duo, do you think you can crawl through that?"

Duo followed his gaze and smiled. "No problem! Just give me a boost, willya?"

Wufei laced his fingers together to make a step for the female pilot. Duo stepped up quickly and wrenched the vent from the wall, then slipped silently into the air vent. It was large enough for her to turn around slightly and offer a hand-up to her partner. Once both were safely in the vent, they began to crawl--as quickly as possible--through the twisting passage. As she neared the outer wall, Duo was sure she could hear soldiers reporting that one of the vents was open.

"Then they must still be in the building somewhere," came the authoritative reply. "I want everyone in that building searching for those pilots *NOW*!"

The pair remained silent, Duo able to watch through the grate until every soldier was gone, then both reached forward and shoved the grate loose. The female pilot crawled out, glancing around quickly before rising to her feet. Wufei followed, replacing the vent so that no one would know exactly which route they'd used to escape. He quickly checked Duo's bag to ensure that the disk was still secure, then grabbed the other pilot's hand and took off running for the parking lot.

"Let's take this one," Duo said as she came to a complete stop, thus dragging Wufei to a halt as well. He followed her gaze to a red Suburu Outback Sport. "I've always wanted one a' those," she continued with a decided gleam in her eye.

"Maxwell--"

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease, Wu-chan?" she pleaded, tossing her arms around him and peering up at him with shimmery eyes. "I'll make it up to you, I promise!"

<Oh, I can think of a way for you to make it up to me--bad Wufei! You're supposed to be escaping, not thinking about... *that* right now!>

"Fine, we'll take that one," he conceded, still trying to shake himself out of the thoughts that had just flown into his mind. Duo squealed and threw her arms around the Chinese boy's neck(2).

"Arigatou!" she cried, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before bouncing over to pick the lock on the door of the car(3). Wufei put one hand on his cheek and shook his head again. <You don't even realize you did that just now, do you, Duo?>

Just as the braided pilot finished hot-wiring the Suburu, they heard a shout from the direction of the school. Wufei whirled around just in time to see the soldiers open fire on them. Pain flared to life in his side as he dove for the open door of the car. Duo cursed under her breath and gunned the engine to life, slamming her foot down on the accelerator just as her partner pulled the door shut behind him. The Suburu tore out of the lot, laying rubber on the asphalt as she drove straight into the crowd. They fired upon the car again, and Duo shook her head at their stupidity.

"Maybe if they aimed for the *tires* they'd catch us," she said aloud, voice shaking slightly. Wufei grunted a response, and the braided teen turned her gaze to her friend. "Wu? You okay?" she gasped as she caught sight of the blood staining the Chinese youth's tank top.

"I'll be fine, let's just ge--"

Duo cried out softly as Wufei slumped over and fell still. "Damn it, Chang! Don't you dare go into shock!" She slammed her foot onto the accelerator once more, determined to get to either the safe house or to Sally before-- 

<Don't even think it, Duo,> she scolded herself, mouth set into a thin line. <Wufei's going to be just fine. Get him to Sally, get him to Quatre, get him to anyone who can help.>

"Hang on, Wu-chan," she pleaded in a whisper, eyes on the road, trying to keep her mind off the fact that her friend could very well be bleeding to death in the seat next to her. "Don't you die before I get to tell you that I love you."

~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~

(1) Gomen, I just love that song! It was on the radio while I was working on this part, and seemed like something Duo-chan might sing if she thought no one was listening ^_^

(2) Duo, you're not helping, hon.

(3) I'm sure that didn't help matters much either...

~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~

Duo slammed her foot on the brakes and squealed to a halt scant inches from the front door of Quatre's estate (i.e. the current safe house). She nearly slammed into said door, but decided at the last second that it wouldn't be the best course of action. Especially since the crash might cause Wufei to lose more blood than he already had...

Ripping off her seat belt--literally--the American pilot peeled off her priest shirt, thankful that she had opted to wear a tank top underneath today, and wrapped the wound the best she could before pressing a quick kiss to the Chinese pilot's forehead and jumping out of the car.

<Please, God, let him be here!> she prayed silently as she threw open the front door and burst into the house.

"QUATRE! ARE YOU HERE?!"

~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~

"QUATRE! ARE YOU HERE?!" a female voice called out from the front entrance. The pilot in question jumped from his seat and headed for the door--Duo sounded frantic, and that just wasn't like her at all. Neither, in fact, was talking in her real voice, so he knew that his friend must be really upset about something.

Trowa, Heero, and Iria, who had dropped by to visit her little brother, exchanged a confused glance as they stood to follow Quatre. Not a one of them recognized the voice that was continuing to speak in a frantic pitch even as Quatre attempted to calm her down.

"--and the next thing I knew the bastards were shootin' at us, so I finished hot-wiring this *really* nice car that I'm gonna fuckin' *burn* if he's not okay--" the girl was saying in a rush; it seemed to Heero that she hadn't even taken a breath.

"Calm down, I can barely understand you, D-chan!" Quatre interrupted, shaking her shoulders gently. Trowa's eyes widened slightly; except for the fact that the girl was wearing a black tank top rather than a priest's shirt, she was identical to--

"Goddamn it, Quatre, Wufei got shot and now he's bleedin' real bad and I don't know what the hell to do!!"

"Duo."

The girl snapped her mouth shut and turned her eyes towards Trowa. "If you fuckin' tell me to calm down, Trowa, I swear to God I'm gonna paint HeavyArms hot pink with a neon green racing stripe down the side! Now will someone *please* go get Wufei before he looses anymore blood!!" Her voice caught on the last word and she slumped to the floor, shoulders shaking as she tried to hold back her tears.

Heero blinked for a moment at the girl, then nodded and walked out the front door, followed closely by Iria; if he was in need of medical attention, she wanted to assess the extent of the boy's injuries. Quatre pulled Duo to her feet and led her to the living room. Trowa glanced out the door, back towards the retreating forms of the Arabian and American pilots, and went outside to help with Wufei. Duo needed a friend right now, and Quatre was the best one to offer her a shoulder to cry on at the moment.

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"Well?!"

Iria closed the door behind her and turned all of her attention on the chestnut-haired pilot. She wasn't surprised at the revelation that Duo was a girl--the young doctor's intuition had told her that fact a long time ago. Now that the teenager had showered and changed clothes, it was easier to see the secret she'd kept from the others for so long. Duo had opted for a tank top and jeans (three guesses on what color and the first two don't count), and Relena (having arrived minutes after the two pilots) had been brushing out her hair until Iria had left Wufei's room. Now she was impatiently tapping her fingers on the table as she waited for an answer.

Iria couldn't help but smile at the girl's persistence. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you had some pretty strong feelings for that guy," she teased lightly.

Trowa, Quatre, Heero, and Iria didn't miss the blush that spread across the female pilot's face; Relena smothered a giggle. "Anou... erm... uh... I'm just worried about him, okay!" she finally blurted out, still red-faced.

"I know, Du-chan," Relena said, continuing to calmly brush her friend's hair and smiling knowingly. Duo muttered something under her breath about spandex and miniskirts, and the blonde flushed slightly before dropping the brush and retreating to the kitchen.

"To answer your question," Iria said, barely managing to ignore the confused glances Heero kept shooting towards the kitchen and her brother's snickers, "he lost quite a bit of blood, but you managed to stave off the worst of it and get him here as quickly as you could, which was fortunate."

Duo giggled. "Then you mean I did the right thing by running all of those red lights?" she asked innocently, broad grin in place.

The young doctor shook her head and bit back a smile. "*This* time," she replied. "He'll be just fine. If you wanted to see him, he's awake. He might be a little groggy, but other than that--" 

She didn't get to finish her thought; Duo had darted past her into the room. Trowa blinked, then snickered softly.

"I'd say she wants to see him."

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Duo pasted a sunny smile to her face as she quietly shut the door behind her. Even if she seemed to be exuding confidence, she was nervous--only a few hours ago, she had been faced with the very real possibility of Wufei dying before she ever got to say--

Shaking her head, she walked up to the bed and dropped into the chair next to it. Wufei slowly opened one dark eye and glanced over at the girl, a small smile forming on his lips when he caught sight of her. Her heart leapt to her throat, but she still managed to say, "Damn, Wu, don't scare me like that again, okay? I thought you were checkin' out on me, man!"

"Would I do that?" he asked in a whispery voice, closing his eye again. "'I'm not quite ready to die just yet, Duo-chan."

"I'm glad to hear that, Fei," Duo replied, sighing heavily and reaching out to take her friend's hand gently in her own. <Whoa, I didn't realize his hands were so slender,> she thought, running her thumb absently over his knuckles. Aloud she continued, "I'd have been broken up if you had."

"Gomen," Wufei whispered again, squeezing the girl's hand slightly. "I would never hurt you." He opened both his eyes and turned to look directly into Duo's eyes. "I heard everything you said in the car," he said softly.

Duo's violet eyes widened, and she shivered slightly. Did Wufei just say that--

"Honto?" she said, her own voice barely above a whisper. "Even when I said--"

"You loved me?" He smiled slightly as Duo's face reddened and she nodded her head. "Hai, I did. 's part of the reason I didn't want to die yet. Not until I got to say that I love *you*."

"You love me?" The disbelief and hope in her eyes was clear to anyone who looked.

Wufei nodded, too tired to speak any longer. Duo smiled radiantly and threw herself into the boy's arms, laughing and kissing his face. From the now-open doorway, Relena and Quatre exchanged a glance and smiled.

"They're so kawaii, aren't they?" Relena said quietly as she pulled the door shut and leaned against it.

Quatre nodded. "It's about time Duo was true to herself," he said, then quirked an eyebrow at the girl. "By the way, Rei-chan... what was that whole spandex-thing about earlier...?"

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Epilogue

Duo clasped her boyfriend's arm and tugged on him lightly towards the pet store window. "Wufei! Look! Isn't he just the cutest little thing you've ever seen?!"

The Chinese boy smiled both at his girlfriend's enthusiasm and the jet-black kitten in the window. "How do you know it's a 'he'?" Wufei asked in amusement. Duo blew her bangs out of her face and grinned broadly at him.

"I don't, but everyone calls cats 'she', and I wanted to be different." She tapped lightly on the glass and giggled when the kitten batted at her hand on the window. "But isn't he adorable?!"

Wufei glanced over at her and raised an eyebrow. "You want the kitten," he said. Duo blinked innocent violet eyes at her companion.

"Did I say I want the kitten?" she asked, a smile quirking her lips. Behind the couple, Quatre and Trowa shook their heads before turning their attention to the other couple in the group. Relena and Heero were completely oblivious to the 'drama' unfolding by the pet store. Hell, if the world had stopped turning at that moment, they wouldn't have noticed due to the kiss they were currently locked in.

"Have they even come up for air yet?" Trowa asked as he quirked an eyebrow at the couple.

Quatre shrugged and replied, "I think they did before we left the movie theater."

"Honto?!" came Duo's excited squeal, sufficiently drawing everyone's attention (including Heero and Relena, who broke away from their lip-lock and blinked at the chestnut-haired maniac), and they all turned to see the girl glomp onto Wufei and press a firm kiss to his lips. She pulled back and grinned broadly at the group. "My Fei-chan's gettin' me a kitten," she informed them cheerfully.

"Hai, now let go for a second so I can go in and pay for it," Wufei said, carefully extraditing himself from his girlfriend's possessive embrace. Duo pouted for all of three seconds, then grinned and bounced into the pet store behind him, braid swinging as she went. Shrugging, the other three pilots and the pacifist followed their friends.

OWARI

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