Life... Really Part 8

When Danielle came to her senses, there were several things running through her mind. One was that she had just met the same violet eyes that she knew belonged to the family feline. Only instead of those eyes belonging to a furry face, they belonged to a teenage boy with cat ears and a long, thin tail. Along with that, the strange boy had smiled and had the nerve to call her mother.

Only a few minutes passed from the time that she lost consciousness, Danielle noted as she looked to the small clock at the corner of her vid phone monitor. Looking up to the image of her son and that... thing, she glared at the cat-eared boy and growled deeply, "Don't you ever call me that again."

Duo's ears drooped sadly as his violet eyes filled with sadness. Focusing on her concerned son's face, Danielle hissed, "I will be home first thing tomorrow morning. I will cancel my appointments and you had better hope you make enough of a case to keep me from tossing that... thing out on the streets."

Heero flinched, his cobalt eyes widening as he cried desperately, "But, Mom-"

Before he could go on, his mother cut him off as she snapped, "This is going to set my work back a couple days. You had better not waste my time." Danielle reached up and disconnected the call, causing Heero's screen to go black.

With his ears and tail still drooped, Duo began to tremble. Heero gently rested a hand on his shoulder as he told him gently, "Don't worry. Let me handle her."

Sniffing, the braided teenager wiped at his shimmering eyes as he nodded timidly. With a frown of concern, Heero pulled his friend into a tight hug, rubbing his back for support. "I promised you we would make this work somehow, right?"

As he nodded against his shoulder, Duo wrapped his own arms around the Japanese youth. "Then don't worry about anything and let me handle my mother," Heero spoke soothingly. "You're not going anywhere."

Duo pulled back enough so their eyes met, wiping the last of his tears away as a brave smile lit his face. With a small nod, he commented quietly, "I believe you." Returning the smile, Heero ran a hand over the top of his friend's braided head, causing him to purr loudly as his violet eyes closed.

A small smile on his face, Heero asked, "What would you like to do today? Until school starts in a couple more weeks after the break, I don't have any school assignments. And now with my mother putting her case research on hold, it'll be a few days before I have anything to do for her."

Slowly, a mischievous grin fell on Duo's face as he turned his face to the window behind him, his tail swishing quickly as he gazed to the snow falling outside. Turning back to his best friend with a wide smile, he questioned, "Can we go to the park? Maybe go sledding or something?"

At the suggestion, the Japanese boy frowned a bit in thought. "I've never owned a sled in my life," he commented. "I wouldn't know the first thing of where to find one either."

Instead of being disappointed at that, Duo just brightened more as he took hold of the other teenager's hand, jumping up from his seat. "That's okay. We can improvise!" he shouted excitedly as he led his stunned friend from the room.

Before he knew what just happened, Heero found himself in the kitchen with the braided youth. Opening one of the storage cabinets, Duo peered inside as he thought aloud, "They should be around here somewhere." His tail waved happily behind him.

At hearing the commotion, Noin entered the room, her head tilted as she smirked in amusement, "And what are the two of you up to?"

Raising his hands, Heero gave her a ‘don't ask me look'. He knew fully well how protective the young maid was of the kitchen, being one of the rooms she spent most of her time in. Duo peeked out from behind the opened cupboard with his cat ears perked, answering, "We're looking for something that we could use for sleds."

With a surprised look, Noin turned back to the other teenage boy. Heero just shrugged and explained to her, "Duo wanted to go to the park to go sledding." At the obvious uncertainly on his face, it was clear that he never knew what was so exciting about such a prospect.

Her smile returning full-force, Noin folded her hands as she said gleefully, "I think that's a wonderful idea."

Quickly walking to the other end of the kitchen from where Duo was, the young woman opened another drawer and removed two long, hard plastic food trays. Holding them up, Noin announced, "These will work."

All but bouncing over to her, Duo examined the brown trays as he accepted them. His tail swishing animatedly, he smiled brightly, "Perfect!"

The cat-eared boy quickly pecked her cheek in appreciation before taking Heero's hand as he exclaimed, "Come on, Heero! Let's get changed!"

With that, they were gone again before the Japanese teenager could say anything, nearly taking Zechs out as the tall man was entering the kitchen. Noin just laughed, one of her hands over where Duo had kissed her. Raising an eyebrow, Zechs smirked and asked, "What on earth was that all about?"

Noin smiled widely as him as she replied, "Duo is taking Heero out to the park to go sledding." At the startled look on her lover's face, she laughed, "I know. Isn't it wonderful? Heero's never been able to actually go out and enjoy playing in the snow before."

Frowning in concern, Zechs commented, "His mother would never approve of this." A smirk fell on his lips again as he chuckled deeply, "But then, what she doesn't know won't kill her."

At the sound of the front door slamming shut, the blonde-haired man looked in that directing, shaking his head in amusement as he said, "I wish that I could see this for myself."

*   *   *   *   *   *

It didn't take long for Duo to figure out that by sticking his tail up and under his sweater, and covering his cat ears under a ski hat, he looked just like any other teenage boy. With that simple disguise, a few more layers of clothes and Heero right behind, he led them to the park where he spent most of his early days as a kitten before he had been given his new home.

When he finally stopped at the top of the tallest hill in the park, he turned to watch as Heero came up, panting slightly from the effort of keeping up in the thick snow that passed their ankles. Adjusting his coat and scarf, the dark-haired boy asked as he caught his breath, "So... this is it, huh?... Now... what?"

"Silly," Duo chuckled. "Now we sled. This hill is the perfect height." Lowering the trays to sit beside each other, he sat himself perfectly in the center of one of them. "I've seen this on so many Christmas shows," he grinned. "I can't wait to try this."

His rear wiggling the slightest bit in anticipation, to make up for his confined tail, Duo pushed off. Watching with wide cobalt eyes, Heero blinked at how fast his friend moved down the steep hill. All the while as he went down, he heard Duo's laughter and cheers of excitement.

Finally, the other teenager slid to a halt at the bottom, having spanned a good distance before rolling off the sled and landing on his side. Still laughing from the trill of the ride, Duo waved up to his friend and shouted, "Come on, Heero! You have to try this! This is awesome!"

Looking over to the other sled that sat waiting, Heero hesitantly sat himself onto it. Nudging himself towards the edge, he took a deep breath before pushing off. At the rush of the wind blowing past him as he glided down the hill, the Japanese youth heard himself suddenly laughing.

When Heero reached a short snow bank at the bottom, he rolled off his sled the same as Duo had, laughing loudly as he finally came to a stop on his side. Duo laughed with him as he ran to join him, cheering, "Isn't this great!?"

Nodding when he finally caught his breath, Heero nodded and smiled up to him, "I have to admit, this is fun." Suddenly, he was struck with a snowball in the chest. "Hey!" he laughed, mock glaring at his friend.

Duo revealed his second hand from behind his back, revealing the second white ball he had made as he cried, "Snowball fight!" He threw the other snowball just as the other boy managed to dodge in time. Quickly arming himself, Heero threw another snowball at his companion, their laughter filling the air anew.

*   *   *   *   *   *

As they reentered the house, Heero and Duo were still laughing after their adventure. As bundled as they were, they managed to spend a couple hours at the park before they really felt the cold. The sun was just beginning to set when they finally decided to head back.

Heero never would have dreamed that going down a hill, just to climb it to go down again over and over, could have been so much fun. Until now, it escaped him as to how such a concept could be enjoyable. Duo had certainly opened him up to something new that day.

Between the sledding, snowball fights and actually building a snowman with his friend, Heero had to admit that he could not remember the last time he enjoyed himself more. He couldn't remember the last time he laughed so much. He would have to tell Quatre, Trowa, Wufei and Relena about this. It was... liberating.

Kicking off their snow-covered boots at the entrance way, the two teenagers began removing their coats and gloves along with any access snow that stuck to them. Duo took off the red, knit ski cap to free his ears. They sprang up as if to stretch in gratitude as he sighed in relief.

From there, Duo lifted the two sweaters he had on, his tail slipped out, swaying freely. Still amazed at the sight of a human with cat ears and a tail, Heero smiled and shook his head to himself as he hung their coats in the closet.

As they entered the living room, Noin appeared from the kitchen with a tray in her hands, two large steaming mugs set there. "I thought you two might like some hot cocoa after your excursion."

Duo gasped, "Cocoa!" as he accepted one of the mugs. Looking into it, he cheered, "And marshmallows!" Heero smiled in his own appreciation as he took the other cup.

Chuckling deeply, Noin smiled, "I take it the two of you had fun, by the looks of things." She looked behind the two boys as they nodded to her comment. "What happened to the trays?"

Heero winced slightly as he lowered the mug from his lips. "We, uh..." he began, looking to Duo as the other boy bit his lip. "We kind of... broke them on our last run." Both he and Duo broke into the laughter they had been holding back at recalling how the two trays finally snapped from the abuse they were given.

A few things crossed Noin's face, but anger was not one of them. Finally, breaking from her surprise, she chuckled deeply, "Well, at least they went to better use then just sitting in that cupboard as they were." With a wink, she turned as she said, "I'll have dinner finished in a few minutes."

"Thanks, Noin," the two boys called after her in unison. At that sound, the young maid found herself laughing quietly to herself. Things certainly would never be the same in the Yuy household.

*   *   *   *   *   *

That night, after Noin and Zechs had gone off to bed, Duo snuck from his own bedroom, closing the door behind him. Creeping with grace and without a sound, he made his way to Heero's room. Knocking lightly on the door, he peeked inside.

Heero looked up from where he was lying, as if he had been expecting to have a visitor. He grinned as he said quietly, "Come on in, Duo." A wide smile of relief spread on Duo's face as he closed the door behind him and approached the bed.

As his friend opened his arms to him, the braided teenager fell into them, wrapping his own arms around his friend. Lying his head against a firm, bare shoulder, Duo sighed deeply as he closed his eyes. The chest under his head rumbled deeply as Heero chuckled.

They lied quietly for a moment before Duo opened his brilliant, violet eyes. "I hope everything goes well tomorrow," he frowned. "I want to stay here... with you."

Gently rubbing the top of his braided head, Heero reassured him, "I promised that I would take care of this." Following his instincts, he placed a soft kiss on his friend's forehead as he said quietly, "No worries, all right?"

Duo nodded against his shoulder as he yawned, "All right." Snuggling closer to the other boy, he closed his violet eyes again to fall into a restful sleep.

Heero stayed up a moment longer, watching his friend sleep soundly. Sighing deeply to himself, he whispered, "How the hell am I going to pull this off tomorrow?"

*   *   *   *   *   *

Danielle walked into the house as the voice in the entrance greeted her with Zechs close behind after driving her from the shuttle port. The young woman's face was etched in a scow and her cobalt eyes in a heated glare as she called, "Heero. Meet me in the living room, now."

Noin quickly entered the room to see if she needed anything, only to have a hand brought up to her face as her mouth opened. "I appreciate your understanding that time is money, Noin, but I don't need any of your services right now," Danielle stated curtly. "At this time, I just want some privacy with my son."

Both Noin and Zechs shared a concerned look before the purple-haired maid nodded, "Yes, madam." With that, they couple quickly went upstairs just as Heero walked down the stairway. As they walked past him, his guardians whispered their wishes of luck to him.

Already sitting at one of the couches, her legs crossed and her scowl ever present, Danielle looked up to her son. Wincing slightly, Heero smiled nervously, "Hi, mom."

He was cut off when his mother snapped her fingers and pointed at the couch across from her as she ordered shortly, "Sit." Obeying his mother, Heero swallowed hard. The red-haired woman only showed this determination when she was about to deliver the fatal blow to her opposing prosecution's case.

Danielle looked to her watch as she announced, "I am due back on the next shuttle that leaves in an hour. With the commute back, you had better sway me in twenty minutes starting... now." Lowering her arm, she folded her hands in her lap as she looked expectantly to her son.Keeping Duo in mind, Heero took a beep breath, straightened himself in his seat and nodded. "This new development is just as shocking to you as it had been for me," he began. Now that he was able to get that out, he was able to continue on with the speech he had mentally prepared for this meeting.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Duo was sitting atop Heero's bed, nervously fidgeting with his tail as he awaited the news of his fate. Looking to the clock, he noted that he had been waiting more than fifteen agonizing minutes. Finally, he heard footsteps approaching the room.

Zechs looked into the room when he entered the doorway. Finding the cat-eared boy on the bed, he gave him a reassuring smile as he said gently, "Mrs. Yuy wants to see you. She came to a decision." Biting his lip, Duo nodded and rose from the bed. Following Zechs, he made his way downstairs along with Noin behind him.

In the living room, Danielle Yuy was standing with her hands folded before her as she watched the strange boy approach. Again, Duo bit his bottom lip at the unreadable expression on the young woman's face.

His violet eyes looked to his best friend standing behind her for support. At Heero's slowly forming smile and wink, the braided teenager released the breath he seemed to have been holding since the meeting began.

Stepping forward, Danielle regarded Duo up and down, her cobalt eyes devoid of any clue as to what she had been thinking. When her eyes met the violet orbs watching her, she stated, "Consider yourself very lucky. You can stay."

Noin and Zechs both took each other's hands and squeezed, the only sign of reaction from either of them, as they contained their shock and relief. Duo nearly fell as his knees suddenly go weak at the announcement.

His violet eyes shimmered with small tears as he smiled and whispered, "Thank you, Mo-Mrs. Yuy." He managed to catch himself from making the same mistake of calling her mother again just in time.

Business oriented as usual, Danielle stated, "There are conditions. If you are going to be staying here, he will need to be schooled. I expect everyone staying under my roof to be educated."

Quickly, Noin stepped forward to stand beside the cat-tailed boy as she offered, "Madam Yuy, I would be more than happy to teach Duo. I know of several programs that I could use to bring him to speed and even get him a high school diploma."

Duo's tail swished happily at the boy's thought of having a real education, and a diploma to go with it, just like a human. Heero also brightened at the prospect of his friend not being treated any differently than the next person. Noin and Zechs certainly did grow to care for the new member of the family.

With a firm nod, Danielle replied, "Very good. I would trust that you and Zechs would be agreeing to look after him and any other of his needs, then?" The young couple nodded and accepted without consideration.

Her cobalt eyes turned back to Duo as she spoke firmly, "My career would be ruined if news of your staying in my house ever got out. You will be sent away if you're discovered, so I would be very careful when you are out and about. Understood?"

Nodding quickly, Duo answered, "Yes mam. I'll be careful. I won't be discovered."

Satisfied with her decision, Danielle nodded, "Then we are agreed to the conditions." She looked to her watch and announced, "And now, I must be leaving for the shuttle port again. My associates are in great need of my assistance."

"Will you be home for Christmas this weekend?" Heero asked. Before, his mother had always taken time off for the holidays. It was the only time he saw her for more than a three-day stretch at a time during the year.

Turning to meet his gaze, his mother frowned, "Unfortunately not, my boy. With this trial starting on the second of January, I am going to be swamped with work through New Year's. I will make it up to you next Christmas, I hope."

Danielle smiled as she lifted his chin with a finger. "I appreciate the help you gave me during your trip. And after today's deliberation, I know for certain you will be one of the finest lawyers in space."

Zechs came forward with her coat as he suggested, "We best be on our way if you hope to make the shuttle in time, madam."

"Yes, of course. Thank you, Zechs," Danielle replied as she accepted her coat. As she zippered the coat up, she placed a kiss on her son's cheek and told him, "I will be contacting you after Christmas with your new assignments."

Heero nodded, "Okay. Have a good flight back." Clearing his throat, he added, "And thank you, mom."

With a deep chuckle, his mother shook her head, "Don't thank me. You're the reason Duo's staying here." Tuning to the said creature, Danielle nodded, "I'll see you both when I return."

The braided teenager smiled and nodded. "Simply amazing," his cat ears picked up her whisper. Saying her good byes to those staying behind, the red-haired woman left the living room with Zechs.

When the front door closed to announce his mother's departure, Heero fell back to lie on his back the couch with a loud sigh. "Don't even ask what I did or said," he shouted. "The last fifteen minutes are a blur so I wouldn't be able to tell you!"

The air was filled with the laughter of his friends. Duo pounced on top of Heero, hugging fiercely as he chanted in a mantra, "Thank you thank you thank you thank you."

Heero just chuckled deeply as he rubbed the back of his braided head, closing his eyes. "No need to thanks," he said quietly. "Welcome home, officially."

A wide smile lighting her face, Noin cheered, "We should celebrate tonight! I can make a cake, we can have that and ice cream..."

Sitting up off of his friend, Duo tilted his head as he asked, "Can we invite the others? I really like all of them, too."

"You mean Quatre and the gang? Those others?" Heero inquired as he propped himself up on his elbows. Duo smiled at him and nodded happily. "Are you sure that would be a good idea? You know the conditions my mother set. If they ever slipped and word got out-" his concerned words were cut off when his friend's cat tail moved to cover his mouth.

"I trust all of them. I don't think we would have anything to worry about," Duo grinned. "They're like family, too."

Noin hummed in though as she suggested, "Not only that, but they could be a valuable help in seeing that this secret doesn't get out. I know your friends, too, Heero. I think Duo is right in saying they can be trusted."

As protective of Duo as Noin clearly was, for her to not be concerned, how could Heero question the notion? He smiled up at his friend and nodded, "All right. I'll call them."

*   *   *   *   *   *

Later that evening as dinner was quickly approaching, Duo came downstairs in a loose, deep green sweater and blue jeans. With his tail hidden in the back of the fleece and a brown baseball cap worn backwards, he smiled to his friend and asked, "How do I look?"

Heero grinned back, "You look fine. That's the fifth outfit you tried today. You don't have to be nervous about meeting the others in this form, so don't be nervous."

Duo lowered his head a bit as he frowned in concern, "I just want them to like me." His head was lifted by a finger under his chin, causing his violet eyes meet cobalt.

"Of course they'll like you," the other teenager reassured him. "Just be yourself and that won't be able to help but like you."

As the hand lowered from under his chin, Duo smiled warmly and whispered, "Thanks, Heero."

The sound of footsteps broke their gaze on each other as they watched Noin and Zechs enter the living room. The young couple shared a look before Noin stepped forward and said, "Duo, Zechs and I... Heero told us about how hurt you were about Mrs. Yuy's when he had called her yesterday."

Placing a hand on her shoulder, Zechs cleared his throat shifted on his feet. It was the first time Heero could ever recall seeing the tall man look nervous as he stated, "Noin and I decided that if you like... you could refer to us as your mom and dad. That is, if you want to, of course." He added the last part quickly.

Both Heero's and Duo's eyes widened at the suggestion. "Y-you really mean it?" the braided youth asked softly, uncertain if the cap he was wearing was hindering his hearing. Heero smiled warmly to the young couple and gave them a small nod in appreciation of their offer.

The two guardians both smiled as they nodded to the new arrival of their family. With a stifled cry, Duo latched onto Noin and Zechs, tearfully thanking them. Heero stayed back, watching the sweet scene with a satisfied grin. It was amazing to him at how easy it was for Duo have people want to protect and love him so easily. He really did deserve all the happiness in the world.

At the sound of the doorbell, Heero smirked to the trio over his shoulder as he announced, "Well, here we go." With that, he went to open the front door.

TBC...

 

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