Notes: I would like to thank my beta, Lucid Nightmare! :)
Thank you, thank you, thank you so much to everybody who sent feedback. Even though I do not reply to all of them personally - no time, no time, NO TIME!!! - I do appreciate them very much and am saving all of them on my computer!
Due South Part 2
In the three days they had been at sea, Milliardo hardly saw his mate at all. Treize was spending all his time in the company of the ship's captain, pouring over maps and correspondence, discussing the situation in the South where the rebels had risen against the Emperor again. And thus, when he opened his eyes in the morning of the fourth day and found the tall aristocrat leaning over the cradle, Mil was really surprised.
"We should give him a name," the blond lifebearer said with an amused smile, turning onto his side and propping himself on one elbow.
Treize looked at him from where he was bent over their son and laughed. "Yes, we can't call him 'the baby' forever."
Mil laughed too, his eyes twinkling merrily. "People will start wondering. At least Duo did."
A few seconds later, the smile disappeared from the brown haired man's lips. Touching his sleeping son's head one last time, he straightened. "You and Duo got awfully close during the ride." His voice was steady and casual.
Tensing, Mil narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean by that?" he asked, suspicious.
Treize shrugged and rearranged his long cloak. "I just wonder how much you told him about yourself."
"I didn't tell him anything!" the blond man snapped in anger. He understood Treize's caution. Mil's origins could cause all of them to end up in the headsman's hands and no ranks or titles would save them. Humans just didn't mix with Others. On the other hand, his mate's lack of trust in Mil's judgment hurt him deeply.
"Duo... But what about other people?" The look Treize directed towards the blond man was dark.
"I told Trowa... and Heero heard, too." Seeing the clouds of anger gather in the other man's eyes, Mil protested quickly. "I needed to know what impact my origins could have on my child!"
Treize stepped closer to the bed and clenched his teeth to keep himself from shouting. The last thing he needed was to wake his child or let anybody hear them arguing. "How could you do that? Do you realize that with your actions you are not putting only your own life at risk or mine anymore, but the life of our son, too?!" His quiet voice was full of fury.
Now furious as well, Milliardo sat up on the bed, wincing as he pulled his still sore muscles. "I do realize that! But we are talking about our son's well being here, not only his safety. We have no idea how my heritage could affect him in the future. It was important enough to me to take the risk."
"And you couldn't tell me about it?" Treize snapped, leaning closer.
"And you couldn't tell me about the trap you set up for that mercenary?" Mil retorted angrily.
This seemed to really surprise Treize, for he straightened and blinked. "That's not the same," he replied, some of the anger retreating from his voice.
Mil's eyes blazed in fury and he had to restrain himself from raising his voice. "Isn't it? Since you realized that I was a lifebearer, your attitude towards me changed drastically. You are treating me as if I could break. You are not discussing your decisions with me anymore, you are keeping things from me-"
"Because I fear for you!" Treize snapped, interrupting the blond man.
"Do you? Or do you simply consider all lifebearers weak?" Mil sighed, his anger disappeared and left him feeling tired. He couldn't remember how many times they already had this argument since Treize found out that Mil was pregnant. The lifebearer looked at his mate, reached out and caught the brown-haired man's hands in his. "I'm the same as I was two years back when I fought on your side against the rebels in the South." He was desperate for his mate to understand that Treize's attitude was hurting him.
Treize tightened his grip on Mil's hands. "I know," he answered quietly.
"Then why? Why are you treating me differently?"
"Because you almost died on me!" the aristocrat snapped, his eyes ablaze. "Since I found out about your pregnancy... you've cheated death so many times since then..." His voice trailed off.
Mil tugged at his mate's hands, forcing him to sit on the bed next to him. "But I'm not dead, love," he whispered, touching Treize's forehead with his own. "And I'm no invalid. Please, don't treat me as such."
The brown haired aristocrat sighed and closed his eyes. He retracted his hands from Mil's and ran them up and down his mate's arms. For a couple of long moments they stayed like that, touching each other in silent contentment. It felt so good to be together.
"Zechs."
Hearing his mate utter the name quietly, Mil pulled back and looked at him. "Huh?"
Treize raised his hand and touched the blond man's cheek. "I would like our son to carry your Sire's name. Zechs." He smiled.
Milliardo answered with a smile of his own. "I think that's a great idea."
~*~
For the first time in who knew how long Duo was bone deep bored. Now that he didn't need to worry about Howard any longer, he wasn't sure what he should actually be doing or thinking. And the fact that they were on a ship didn't help much. On the deck it was way too cold to spend any prolonged amount of time there, and their cabin was just too small and dark. Duo was starting to get claustrophobic.
With no enthusiasm whatsoever, he pushed his meal around on the tin plate. He was sure that being allowed to eat in their cabin instead of the long and overcrowded galley was Mil's doing. On the first day, the blond aristocrat noticed Duo's discomfort about the prospect of eating together with all the ship's men. The braided young man hadn't been in the company of more than four persons at once for weeks now and the crowd seemed to be rather overwhelming for him. Duo remembered the wink Milliardo sent him. And the next meal they were allowed to take in the privacy of their cabin. The braided lifebearer was more than grateful for this small leniency.
But now he was sitting in their cabin all alone, staring at the contents of the quickly cooling dish. His appetite left him quite a while ago, when he realized that Heero and Trowa wouldn't be eating with him. Trowa got rather involved with the ship's healer - Duo tried to follow their conversation once but all the names of plants and medications escaped him and he felt completely out of place with them. And Heero was practicing with Rufus, the captain of Treize's personal guard. Duo was sure that meal or not, there was a crowd gathered on the deck around the two fighters, watching the sparring match. But after three days, even watching Heero's feline like movements started to bore Duo to tears. Everyone was doing something they liked or were good at. Except for him.
That was when the child in the neighboring cabin started to cry. Duo frowned. The baby seemed rather fussy the last three days. And so when the cries went on and on and didn't seem to be lessening, just the opposite, the braided lifebearer stood up. He didn't know anything about fighting or healing plants, but he knew a lot about babies.
Shinigami following him like a shadow, Duo stepped through the door and walked the short distance to the cabin the captain vacated for the special guests on board. He knocked once and without waiting for an answer, he opened the door and walked in.
Milliardo turned to him from where he leaned over the cradle. His face was pale, dark circles under his eyes. Seeing the other lifebearer, the blond man sighed in relief.
"Need some help?" Duo asked, a cheeky grin on his face.
Mil nodded hastily. "Yes, please. I don't know what's wrong with him." He seemed rather desperate.
The braided man waited for the dog to enter too, then he closed the door and stepped closer to the cradle. The little boy's face was red and streaked with tears.
"He isn't sick, is he?" Milliardo asked fearfuly.
Duo laughed. "Don't worry. Even though they seem fragile, children are rather resilient. As long as you handle him carefully, he will be okay."
"So... what's wrong then?"
"Hm... maybe he is hungry?" the braided man pondered aloud.
Milliardo shook his head. "No, I just fed him." He lifted the empty bottle.
Duo's smile grew bigger. "A~ha, then I know what's wrong." He bent over the child and lifted him from the white bedsheets embroidered with blue. "There," he said quietly and let the baby's head rest on his shoulder, holding him in place carefully. Then he gently started to pat and massage the small back. The child's cries stopped almost immediately.
The blond man looked at the other lifebearer in confusion. "What-"
But before he could finish, a loud burp echoed through the ostentatious cabin. Milliardo blinked in surprise and Duo laughed, amused.
"Is he alright?" Mil asked, touching his son's head.
Duo smiled. "Don't worry. That's normal. You have to help him burp after every meal so that the gas doesn't gather in his tummy." Seeing Mil's surprised look, a realization dawned on Duo. "Ah, you didn't know. That's why the baby cried almost all the time the last couple of days."
Milliardo blushed and looked away. "Sorry."
The braided man waved his hand. "Don't sweat it. It's just... I'm a little bit surprised that you didn't know such a thing. I thought that all lifebearers were taught these things since their childhood."
For a while Mil didn't say anything, and it almost looked like he wouldn't answer Duo's insinuation. But in the end, he raised his eyes to give the braided lifebearer a brief look, then he turned to his son. He found him already sleeping happily. "It's... rather complicated," he answered. "But would you... could you teach me more... things I should know? I don't want to endanger my son in any way."
Duo blinked in surprise. He, a nobody from a nameless village somewhere in the woods, would teach a nobleman? Mil's request left him speechless. But seeing the earnest look in the other man's eyes, Duo nodded slowly. Although Milliardo's tired face looked rather expressionless as if counting on Duo to refuse, his eyes betrayed him - they were almost desperate in his need for help with things he knew nothing about.
"Of course I will help." He almost smiled, hearing the blond sigh in relief. Maybe Duo found something he was good at for himself, too.
~*~
"That was a really good fight."
Heero turned around from where he was leaning against the rail, trying to catch his breath. The sword was not his weapon of choice. He preferred knives. But knowing about this weak point, he decided to dedicate the rest of the journey to exercise. And in Rufus he almost found his master. Only their exhaustion, and Treize calling their sparring match a tie, probably saved them from some serious injury.
The Enforcer nodded at Treize's compliment, then raised the sword to clean it, and frowned when he found his arm shaking.
"You wouldn't be looking for a job, would you?" the nobleman said and leaned against the rail next to Heero. "I'm always looking for good fighters for my personal guard."
The younger man looked at Treize, then lowered his eyes back to his sword. "No. This is a job for a single man. I have Duo now to care for," he answered after a short while.
Treize nodded, watching him clean his weapon. For a moment they were silent, shouts of sailors echoing around them, white puffs of steam rising from their mouths in the cold winter air.
Suddenly, the aristocrat broke the silence that settled over them. "I hope you'll keep Milliardo's secret." His voice was calm, but there was a threatening note in it.
For a moment, Heero's hand tightened on the hilt of his sword. He didn't like being threatened. On the other hand, he understood Treize's need to protect his mate. Him asking Heero to keep silent could be considered a risk to the nobleman. He and Trowa were the only ones beside Treize himself who knew Milliardo's secret. And now, at sea, surrounded by Treize's men... they could have just as good as become fish food. No one would be mourning for three lowlifes from some backwater village in the mountains.
Calmly, in a deliberately slow motion, Heero sheathed his weapon, then turned to the aristocrat, standing next to him. "I swear on my honor that I'll never tell anybody a word about what he entrusted to us." He paused for a moment, then added in a low voice. "But I warn you, nobleman. Never threaten me or mine again. It could cause you many problems."
Treize looked the younger man in the eyes, finding a strength of will matching his. He didn't need to do or say anything. They understood each other.
Suddenly a shout echoed from the rigging above their heads. They raised their eyes to the sailor. The man was pointing to the south-east. Both Heero and Treize turned to the shore the ship still held in sight during the three-day journey.
"Peacemillion," Treize said, pointing towards the town that was still only a small point in the distance that shone in the weak noon sun.
TBC...
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