Life... Really Part 7
There were so many questions, thoughts and concerns running through Heero's mind that he was drowning in them. he sat hunched forward on one of the living room sofas, his face buried in his hands. Taking a deep breath, he sat up and looked at the strange boy beside him.
Duo's cat ears were perked up, a bright smile on his face and his tail swishing in the air as he sat with his hand folded in his lap. His brilliant violet eyes stayed on his newly returned master all the while, filled with excitement at being reunited with his owner... well, now friend, Heero considered.
The tailed boy was been dressed in the clothes that he wore when he pounced atop Heero, when the latter entered the house. The attire was made of a loose, red shirt and a pair of gray sweat pants that had a hole cut in the back to allow his tail its freedom.
Only a few minutes had passed from the time that Heero found himself on the floor, staring up at the strange creature. Both Noin and Zechs had to help the two of them up since they were pretty... entangled. Quickly, Zechs and Noin began rapidly trying to explain themselves, rattling off their apologies for not warning Heero sooner about what had happened.
Understanding that such a thing would have been pretty difficult to explain over the phone and knowing that his guardians did not want to concern him during his trip, Heero forgave them for not mentioning anything sooner. The Japanese teenager finally got them to stop rambling and got them all to sit in the living room. That brought them to the present.
Heero's cobalt eyes turned from the once tiny kitten to his guardians, sitting on the couch across from where he and Duo were perched. Forcing a smile, the teenager spoke calmly, "Okay, now what exactly happened while I was away."
Sharing a look of concern, the young couple silently discussed who should speak first. As they looked back to the young man, Zechs began with a deep frown, "A couple days after you left, Noin was afraid that Duo had run off, as she hadn't seen him for several hours." Beside the blonde man, the young maid nodded her own testimony.
Zechs continued, his hands moving in vague gestures, as if they moved on their own accord in effort to explain. "When I searched your room, there was a strange... glow from under your bed." Heero's eyebrows lowered in confusion, but nodded for the chauffer to go on.
"I found what looked like a cocoon under your bed, the same blue as the glow that it was emitting," the tall man went on. "Over the last couple weeks, the cocoon grew and just three days ago," he gestured to the happy teenager with his waving tail and peeked cat ears, "That's what had hatched."
Falling back on the couch, Heero's wide cobalt eyes lost their focus on anything for a moment. Duo frowned in concern, tilting his head as he gently nudged his friend's shoulder with his head, purring softly as if to comfort him.
Still wide-eyed, Heero looked up to the other teenager in disbelief. Tentatively, he gently rested a hand on Duo's back, rubbing it gently. His smile returning, the other boy's deep purr grew louder, his arms wrapping tightly around Heero's neck.
"My mother is going to freak," the Japanese teenager stated in a voice dry of any emotion other than dread. Across from him, Noin and Zechs both nodded with grim faces of their own.
* * * * * *
A couple hours later, Noin called that dinner was ready as she brought out the main course of baked ham on a silver tray. Duo jumped up from where he sat curled up beside Heero on the couch, watching television with him. The Japanese boy led him into the dining room, watching in curiosity as the cat-eared youth pulled out the chair beside the one at the head table, the one where Heero normally sat.
Taking a moment to observe Duo, the dark-haired teenager thought of some of the things Noin and Zechs had filled him in on in regards the research they conducted in attempt to know more about the strange. They ran a blood test with an at-home-kit that they brought from the nearest science lab the day before in effort to learn as much as they could.
From their private experiment, they learned that Duo was now, indeed a human, despite the cat ears and tail that he donned. The test also confirmed him to be the tender age of fifteen, just two years younger than Heero.
Once in his seat, Duo smiled warmly up at his friend, his tail swishing rhythmically as he watched the young man took his place. Unable to help himself, and unable to take his emotional turmoil out on the naïve creature who obviously trusted him unconditionally, Heero smiled back just as warmly.
Reaching out, the Japanese teenager gently rubbed the back of Duo's closest ear. As he would in his cat state, the strange boy leaned into the touch, his eyes closed as he purred contentedly. When he pulled his hand back, Heero shook his head in amusement and wonder. "Amazing," he whispered.
After Zechs and Noin began passing the food around, the Japanese teenager's wonder grew as he watched Duo politely accept some of the offered courses. "Zechs and I worked with Duo last night at how to maneuver things with his hands," Noin explained.
She smiled at the tailed boy as he grinned happily at her. With a wink to him, she added, "Duo is an excellent student. He picked up on how to user silverware quite quickly."
Heero couldn't help but smile, himself. It was more obvious now, more than ever, how attached Noin and Zechs were to Duo. For them to be patient enough to teach him some of the little details of how to do something as simple as use hands. It must have been very disorienting for the once cat to suddenly find that he needed to work with front-paws-turned-into-hands.
Not only had they done so much in teaching Duo how to use his hands, but the young couple had also taken care of so many other things. Noin and Zechs had gone and used her owe money to buy several outfits for him, taking the time to cut holes in every pair of pants and boxers so that Duo's tail could move freely. They took care of buying his own tooth brush, hairbrush, all of the little things that a person needed to live.
While his mind was already made up before learning how much his guardians cared for his once pet, Heero's resolve was now set. As he started filling his place, he announced, "I don't care what it takes, I'm going to convince my mother that Duo stays."
They all missed the perk in Duo's ears and tail at the statement, the bright shimmer of excitement in his violet eyes at the statement. Now able to work a fork and knife with ease, the long-haired teenager pushed back some of the strands that kept falling in his face before cutting a large piece of ham.
Zechs sat up and nodded firmly, his knife and fork gripped in his hands as he replied, "We'll stand behind you on that, if you need assistance in... persuading her."
Shaking his head, Heero raised a hand to him and said, "No, I don't want either of you facing a backlash from her if the situation gets bad." His voice softened as he told them sincerely, "But, I appreciate the offer, all the same."
Noin sighed deeply with a worried frown, "I respect your mother, Heero, but I am sure that she won't see Duo as anything more than an unintelligent animal."
"Why not," a deep voice asked, causing the three plotting individuals to jump. With three pairs of wide eyes watching him, his head tilted, Duo blinked in confusion at the shock he saw there as he asked, "What?"
Heero was the first to find his voice as he sputtered, "Duo, you... you can talk?"
Smirking, the other boy shrugged with an amused grin as he answered, "Of course."
"Why didn't you tell us!?" the other youth explained, nearly falling out of his seat.
Duo blinked in sincere confusion and replied simply, "No one asked me." Heero's hand rose quickly to rub his aching head.
Noin broke from her stupor enough to inquire, "Duo, how did you learn how to talk?" When the teenager pointed into the living room, she said for him, "The television?"
The cat-eared boy nodded, "And by watching all of you when I was little. After a while, I figured out how to understand what you all were saying."
He turned to his stunned owner and continued, "When you were sleeping, I would read through your school books. You read aloud during the day sometimes, so I figured out how to read from that."
"So even when you were a kitten," Zechs began, his jaw finally closed after nearly hanging wide open for the majority of the last exchange, "you were able to understand us the whole time."
After swallowing his mouthful of food, Duo nodded, "Yep. After a while, more things came together, as far as getting used to phrasing and the sounds you make to form words."
Zechs rubbed his chin in thought as he chuckled deeply in realization, "That would explain a lot. There were times I could have sworn you knew what we were saying."
Even Heero had to admit that he had thought the same thing on a number of occasions. In his feline state, Duo did seem to be very aware of what was happening around him.
Chuckling deeply, Noin turned to Heero and shook her head, "Well, at least that cancels out your mom being able to say anything about his intelligence."
* * * * * *
The remainder of the evening was spent in the living room, Heero pacing across the floor as he silently worked out in his mind how he was going to talk to his mother about this change in their lives. If she was going to bring any argument as to whether or not Duo could stay with him, he could always remind her of the ace up his sleeve that he had used to keep Duo in the first place.
After all, Heero took full responsibility for Duo, and his mother did allow him to keep the one thing that he wanted... which just sounded odd now, considering what he got in the end. Still, this was the same creature that he had saved from the streets a couple years ago. Heero wasn't about to abandon him now.
While his owner paced, Duo's head moved back and forth, following his movements as if he were watching a tennis match. His ears lowered a bit as he frowned, asking sadly, "Am I going to be trouble for you, Heero?"
At hearing the concern and heartbreak in his pet's... well, now friend's voice, the Japanese teenage froze in mid-step. Turning quickly to face the other teenager, Heero frowned sadly in realization of how badly his own concern must have looked to the other youth. He had been so absorbed in his own thoughts that he forgot there was another person that needed him to be there for them.
With a soft sigh, Heero sat beside the long-haired youth and smiled reassuringly as he replied quietly, "No, Duo. You're not going to be any trouble for me. We'll make this work, somehow." Relief filled the violet eyes that were so large now a person could lose themselves in them.
Gently, Heero brushed back a few long strands of chestnut that fell in his friend's face. With a small smile, he chuckled, "I still can't get over this hair. It's so long." A thought occurred to him as he said gently, "Turn around a bit."
Duo turned his back to him without any question, trusting him with whatever it was he wanted to do. He heard his friend think aloud, "I wonder if this will work better."
The cat-eared boy purred loudly in content as he felt Heero's hands working though his hair gently. Since Noin had brushed out all of his knots that morning, there were none to worry about now. For a short while, Heero continued to work through the long locks before separating it into three sections.
Recalling the times he saw one of his young nieces braid the hair of her doll during a family reunion a while back, Heero used that as his reference in weaving his friend's hair in the same fashion. When he reached the bottom, he reached with his free hand under the couch, retrieving a piece of purple yarn from Noin's sewing kit.
With care, Heero tied the end of the braid and smiled to himself as he announced quietly, "Finished. This should help keep your hair from getting in your way." His smile grew when Duo sat back, pulling the long braid over his shoulder, appraising it with amazement in his violet eyes.
After a few wide-eyed blinks, the cat-eared boy leapt forward, throwing his arms around Heero's neck as he exclaimed, "I love it! Thank you!" The other teenager laughed quietly as he returned the embrace.
When he pulled back, Duo reverently ran a hand up and down his braid as he kept his gaze focused on it. "Thank you for not cutting it," he whispered.
It was now Heero's turn to blink in surprise as he replied sincerely, "I wouldn't dream of cutting your hair."
At the brilliant smile he received, the Japanese teenager couldn't help but be in awe of how much this creature trusted and relied on him. Even thought he knew Heero might have wanted to cut his hair, Duo still trusted him to turn his back when he was asked.
Yawning, Heero looked at the clock and suggested, "We should get to bed. It's getting late." With a yawn of his own, Duo nodded and followed the other boy up the stairs.
Once they reached the second level of the house, the cat-eared teenager looked to the closed door beside his friend's. "Is that the room Zechs and Noin set up for you while I was gone?" Heero asked as he watched Duo fidget with his brown tail.
Nodding, the braided boy turned and forced a smile as he replied, "Yea. I guess this is good night, then." Heero gave him a friendly smile and offered his own 'good night' before opening the door to his room. Biting his lip, Duo looked back to his own door.
* * * * * *
Late in the night, Heero was awoken from his sleep when he felt something sink on the edge of his bed. Sitting up quickly, his wide cobalt eyes fell on a very frightened looking "Duo," he whispered in concern.
The braided boy was sitting on the edge of the bed, terror filling in his violet eyes as he held his tail tightly in both of his hands. Dressed in a loose night shirt and matching blue sleep pants, Duo bit his lip. Moving closer to the other teenager, Heero gently placed a hand on his friend's his shoulder, the worry clear on his face and in his voice as he asked gently, "What's wrong, Duo?"
A shiver ran through the braided youth, causing his whole body to tremble as a small whimper escaped his throat. "I can't sleep," he replied, his voice little more than a whisper that the other boy had to strain to hear.
"Nightmare?" Heero asked reassuringly, his instincts that he never knew he had telling his hand to soothingly rub circles over his braided friend's back.
Small tears filled the wide violet eyes watching him as the cat-eared boy nodded timidly. It was disorienting for the Japanese teenager to see such distress in the face that he had seen more often than not smiling brilliantly all day.
A sudden realization flooded over Heero, one that shook him to the very core of his being. He was looking not just at a friend, but he was looking at his best friend. Over the last couple years, Duo was watching him, listening to him, following him and lending whatever comfort he could when it was needed.
The only time Heero had ever cried, Duo was the one that dried his tears and silently offered his support. Along with that, there had been countless other times the Japanese boy had shared things with his cat that he would never tell anyone else, only to now realize that he was understood. The braided teenager knew everything about him, so much more than any of his other friends did.
His heart suddenly breaking at the sight of his best friend in such a state, Heero frowned in concern as he moved to give some room between them. As he lied down, the Japanese boy gently pat the mattress beside him as he whispered, "Come here."
With a small whimper, Duo quickly lowered himself beside the other teenager. All but falling into the arms that were opened for him, he sniffled as he closed his violet eyes. Gently, Heero lowered the cat-eared head to his bare chest as he rubbed his free hand over the other's back. For a long moment, they just held onto each other, content just to find companionship between them even without needing to speak.
Slowly, Duo's trembling began to subside and he dried the tears that wet his face. "Thank you," he finally whispered brokenly.
Heero gazed down at him as he asked gently, "Are you sure you're all right? Do you want to talk about it?"
Opening his eyes to gaze up at his friend, the tailed boy frowned and shrugged, "I don't have nightmares too often, but it's the same one when I have it. I keep running from something terrifying, but I can't see what it is, I just know that it's bad. It just seems so real..." He began to shake again as he stifled a cry.
"Shh," Heero whispered reassuringly, "You're all right. I won't let anything hurt you. I promise." It seemed such an odd thing at how Duo was wise beyond his years and yet in other ways, he was so much like a child walking blindly through a strange new world. Knowing that he intended to keep his word, the Japanese teenager meant to see to it that nothing ever hurt his best friend.
Duo calmed again, his hold on the other boy loosening a bit as he sighed deeply, the last of his trembling running its course. After another long pause, he smiled a bit at last. Looking back up to the teenager who was once his owner, he said quietly, "I'm glad you're back home, Heero. I really missed you while you were gone."
A small smile found its way across Heero's face as he replied just as softly, sincerely, "I missed you too, Duo."
Licking his lips, the cat-eared youth said in little more than a whisper, "Thank you for saving my life years ago." At that, Heero sat up a bit, his wide cobalt eyes shimmering in the dim moonlight that filled the room. Smiling, Duo told him, "After the accident, when I woke up, I recognized your eyes from the morning before, when you first saw me."
Unable to help his quiet chuckle, Heero smirked, "Actually, your eyes were what stood out for me, too, that first time I saw you."
"Really?" Duo questioned with a grin as he wrinkled his nose. His tail flicked back and forth behind him a bit. At the sight, the Heero chuckled more and nodded.
Sighing deeply, the braided teenager smiled in content as he nuzzled closer into his best friend's embrace. "This is a lot better than just sleeping next to you all those nights before."
As he laid back down onto his back, Heero had to admit, "Actually, it is nice." He yawned widely. "I finally get to hug you for a change, like I wanted to all those times before when you were there before."
His smile growing wistful, Duo replied, "I always wanted that, too. And now I can actually talk to you, instead of you having to interpret my meowing."
"Thank you for always listening to me," Heero whispered as he ran a hand over the other boy's braided head.
With a deep purr, Duo nuzzled his cheek against his friend's chest as his eyes closed. "What else are friends for?" he replied in a quiet voice, unable to fight off sleep any further.
As he watched the other teenager sleep, Heero smiled warmly to himself. Finally too tired to stay and watch any more, and satisfied that he was all right, he placed a soft kiss on Duo's forehead before closing his own eyes at last.
* * * * * *
Early the next morning, Heero woke before his alarm clock sounded, just like every morning. With a small yawn, he rubbed his face and sat up. Slowly opening his eyes, they suddenly widened at the sight of a very naked Duo sitting on top of the blanket beside him.
The cat-eared boy was laying on his side a bit, his back to Heero as his tail swished back and forth. His hair was out of its braid, cascading all around. When he sensed the other teenager get up, he looked over his shoulder and smiled innocently, "Morning, Heero."
"D-Duo?" Heero sputtered as he covered his eyes enough to only be able to see the other youth from the waist up. "What did you do with your clothes?"
With a slight pout, Duo replied, "Clothes are so confining. Do I have to wear them?" He sat up and crossed his legs.
Heero sighed deeply, a small smile on his face as he leaned forward to wrap part of the blanket around the cat-tailed boy's waist. "I know that it'll take some getting used to, considering you never had to wear anything but your fur before. But you will have to wear clothes if you don't want to stand out more than you already do."
Smirking, Duo shrugged, "All right. If you say so." He shifted again a bit, careful to adjust the blanket around his body as not to reveal anything.
It was then that Heero noticed that Duo had several pieces of paper from his sketchpad in his possession. Looking down at the drawings on them, the braided boy smiled, "These pictures are beautiful. Did you draw them while you were on the trip?"
With a nod, the Japanese youth ran a hand through his unruly hair as he answered, "It was a long shuttle trip to and back again. It gave me something to do, you know that I doodle when I'm bored."
Tilting his head a bit, Duo appraised each piece of finely drawn work as he commented, "These are a lot more than just doodles, if you ask me. You're very talented when it comes to drawing." He looked up to meet Heero's gaze with his violet eyes as he said quietly, "I remember you telling me a long time ago that you wanted to do this for a living."
His cobalt eyes widening, Heero shook his head, "Duo, you know that I would never be able to..." Quickly, he cut himself off, taking a deep breath as he closed his eyes to start again. When he looked to the other boy, he smiled, "We both know that there are others things planned for me. Besides, I would have a more promising future in the life my mother has set for me."
Taking aback for a moment, Duo frowned, "Oh," as his ears drooped. With a grin, his ears perked back up as he nodded, "All right. As long as that's what you want."
All that Duo wanted was to see Heero happy. As far as Heero was concerned, all he wanted was to make his mother happy. Giving his friend a small smile, the Japanese boy suggested, "You should go pick out a nice outfit to wear when I call mother in an hour. I'm sure that you want to look your best, ne?"
Duo's bright smile returned as he nodded, "Will you help be braid my hair again?"
The other boy chuckled deeply and nodded back, "Of course."
At Heero's affirmative response, the cat-eared boy jumped up, forgetting to cover himself with the blanket in his haste, as he dashed from the room with a happy whoop of excitement. Heero just looked to his bedroom door as he sighed deeply, shaking his head with an amused smile.
* * * * * *
"And Maryanne was extremely impressed with your patience and willingness to pick up on everything she taught you," Heero's mother continued to ramble on. The moment their call connected, she went into a long speech of how proud she was of her son's performance during his trip.
Taking a deep breath, Heero frowned as he interrupted, "Mom, there's something that I really need to tell you about Duo."
Her blue eyes widening in concern, Danielle stopped herself and asked, "The poor thing isn't hurt is he?" Silently, she cursed herself for allowing that small admission of her liking the cat out. But in fact, she had grown a bit attached to him over the last couple years.
Finding relief in the realization of her slip, Heero gave a nervous smile as he replied, "No, nothing like that." He gestured to the other boy sitting just out of the vid phone's view.
Duo tentatively leaned into the vision of the screen. With a bright smile, he lifted a hand to wave at the image of the young woman as he greeted, "Hi, Mom!"
There was a long pause, Danielle just staring at the strange teenager with wide eyes. Finally, her she collapsed, in a dead faint, out of the view of the monitor.
Both boys shared a concerned look. "Well, that went over better then I thought," Heero smirked with a slight smirk.
TBC...
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