Life... Really Part 9
With a twist of the doorknob, Heero opened the front door. Smiling to his friends standing on the other side, the Japanese youth greeted, "Hey, guys." As he stepped aside, Quatre, Trowa, Wufei and Relena filed into the house.
Noin smiled in reassurance over her shoulder at Duo, hiding nervously behind her, watching as the group entered the living room. With warm smiles and greeting to Noin and Zechs, the polite teenagers waited for Heero to join them. "So what's the special occasion?" Trowa asked, the anticipation clear on his face as well as the others.
Unable to help but feel a little nervous for his best friend's sake, Heero reminded himself to smile as he replied, "Well, I just wanted to introduce you guys to an old friend of mine who is going to be staying here."
Quatre blinked in surprise and grinned, "That's great, Heero." Looking around the room in confusion, he asked, "But where's Duo? He's usually so quick to greet us when he hears the door open."
With her own eyes scanning the room, Relena commented, "I was going to ask the same thing. Is he here?"
Heero took a deep breath, smirking as he answered, "Oh, he's here." Turning to a protective looking Noin and Zechs, he nodded.
The young couple stepped out of the way, revealing the teenage boy wearing a loose, deep green sweater, blue jeans and a brown baseball cap that he wore backwards. The long braid running down his back swung when he quickly lowered his head. Wide confused eyes, tilted heads and the expressions on the gathered group's faces showed clearly that they did not understand what was happening.
Gently, Heero took the braided teenager's hand, leading his to his friends. All the while, the strange boy would not lift his head as he was led. Duo allowed his head to be eased up by Heero's finger tucked under his chin. At the sight of the wide, violet eyes, the loud gasps of the Japanese youth's friends filled the room as their own eyes widened as far as they could.
Biting his bottom lip, Duo lowered his head again to the wide eyes filled with disbelief before him. Slowly, he reached up to remove the baseball cap, revealing his large and brown cat ears as they sprung up. Heero helped lift the back of his sweater to let his long, thin tail out. His tail swayed from side-to-side slowly, as if it was also nervous to make any sudden movement.
As he watched his stunned friends, Heero waited patiently, if a little nervously. For reassurance, he placed a gentle hand in the middle of Duo's back. For a long moment, there was not a word and Noin and Zechs shared a concerned look, clearly unsure if this was the best idea or not. It was difficult to imaging what was going through the minds of the shocked teenagers.
Finally, Relena was the first to make a sound, much like a small whimper, as she closed her gaped mouth. Wufei's head snapped his head in her direction as his widened eyes eased and rolled while he sighed deeply. "Here comes the estrogen rush," he warned in a voice filled with mock dread.
"Oh you are just too cute for words!" the teenage girl exclaimed suddenly as she rushed forward to the braided boy. Pausing just before him, Relena tilted her head a bit as she looked deeply into his violet eyes. "Duo?" she asked in a near whisper. "Is that really you?"
Licking his lips nervously as he kept their gazed locked and tentatively nodded, "Y-yea." A small, relaxed smile tugged at his lips as he greeted, "Nice to meet you officially, Lena."
Again, Heero's friends gasped and their eyes widened at the deep voice recognizing the blonde girl. A wide smile fell on Relena's face as she replied quietly, sincerely, "This truly is a pleasure for me as well."
Closing the gap between them, Relena embraced the braided teenager tightly. Duo blinked in shock for a moment before his own smile grew in relief as he hugged her back. He rested his chin on her shoulder, closing his eyes as he purred deeply. Laughing quietly at the sound, the young woman pulled back and smiled widely at him.
After breaking from their own states of bewilderment, Quatre, Trowa and Wufei stepped up a bit. Duo nodded to the blonde Arabian and grinned, "Quat." Pointing to Relena next to him, the braided teenager stated, "Good job picking this one up."
Relena blushed and Quatre beamed in wonder at the cat-eared boy. The blonde young man walked up to his girlfriend and slipped an arm around her waist to hug her from behind as he said, "She's the best thing to ever happen to me." At that, Relena smiled lovingly and kissed her boyfriend's cheek.
Turning to the Chinese teenager, Duo smiled with another nod as he said, "Fei, I'm glad that you've already been accepted to work at Saint Peter's Hospital when you graduate college. Your parents must be proud that you're going through with their plans for you."
His dark eyes widened, Wufei blinked in shock as he realized aloud, "You were in the room, here, when I announced that to Heero and the others a few weeks. But you were still just a..." His voice trailed off as the cat-tailed boy nodded and put his hands together to gesture something small.
Lastly, Duo looked over to Trowa. He chuckled deeply as he recalled the punishment he suffered in losing his bet with Wufei and commented, "And you look great in a dress, Trowa."
"Hey!" the tall boy shouted with wide green eyes. Everyone else in the room laughed loudly at the exchange. Shaking his head as the laughter continued as he mock glared at Duo with a smirk as he warned, "That stays between us if you want to stay alive, you know."
Still laughing, Quatre stated, "Well, us, and everyone that we showed the pictures to!" At the terrified look on his brunette friend's face that was shot to him, the Arab laughed all the louder, shaking his head as he reassured him, "Just kidding! I just wanted to see your face!"
Both Noin and Zechs looked to each other again, satisfied grins on their faces. Knowing that things were under control, they gave the young students their privacy for the time being to finish preparing their meal. On the way out, they winked and smiled to their 'son' as he waved to them, his tail waving excitedly.
Heero wiped at his eyes when he finally managed to contain his laughter, his wild surge of emotions and anxiety finally ebbing. Moving his hand from Duo's back to fall on his best friend's shoulder, he smiled to the others, "We'll fill you guys in on what we know over dinner."
With a nod, Wufei ran a hand over his hair as he stated, "That's good, because I'm going to need to sit down soon after all of this." Three heads nodded their agreement.
* * * * * *
A little over an hour later, Heero, Duo and Relena sat at the right side of the table. Across from them, Trowa, Wufei and Quatre sat. At the two ends of the table, Zechs and Noin took their residence as they gave their end of their story. From there, Heero took over the rest of the explanation of Duo's change.
When the meal was finished, the two guardians decided to leave their guests to their thoughts once they had shared their experience over the last couple weeks. After cleaning the table, the young couple moved into the kitchen to clean the dishes.
After hearing everything of what had become of the once small cat during Heero trip to help his mother, Trowa sat back in his seat at the dinner table. He rubbed his face with his hands and looked to the cat-eared youth.
There had certainly been a great deal to take in by learning how the once kitten had taken on his present state. All around, his other friends were taking in the news at their own pace as they sat silently.
In seeing the tense shoulders of the braided teenager, it was clear that he was still concerned as to how he would be treated by the others. Considering the fact that he had to be faced with Heero's mother along with trying to understand what he was, there was no telling what must have been going through Duo's mind then. His future of staying at the house relied on how Trowa and his friends now reacted.
With a reassuring smile, Trowa was the first to speak up as he stated clearly, "Well, I personally don't mind never knowing what you really are, or where you came from, Duo. As far as I'm concerned, you're as much a friend to us as Heero."
His violet eyes widening at the announcement, Duo replied quietly, "R-really?" With a wink and a smirk, the tall boy across from him nodded firmly.
Sitting up, Quatre smiled warmly as he nodded, "The same goes here. You've been around us for almost three years now, so you're as much a part of our group as any one of us." Wufei and Relena shared their own affirmations to making Duo one of their own.
With a deep sigh of relief, Heero sat back in his own seat beside Duo as he smiled his appreciation to the others. The bond that had grown between them over the years certainly had come a long way. Without any hesitation or reserve, they quickly welcomed Duo into their tight-knit team.
A few small tears of elation filled Duo's eyes as he whispered, "Thank you, guys." To the braided teenager's left, Relena smiled warmly as she reached over to rub the top of his head in comfort. Closing his eyes, Duo gave his own small smile as he purred deeply at the gesture.
Folding his arms across the table from the cat-tailed youth, Wufei looked to Heero and asked, "And you were able to convince your mother to allow Duo to stay here?"
With a snort of his own shock at that truth, the Japanese teenager nodded, "With terms, of course, but she did agree that he can stay."
His dark eyes filling with wonder, Wufei shook his head as he chuckled deeply, "You could sell ice to an Eskimo." Overhearing that part of the conversation from the kitchen, Noin and Zechs laughed quietly to themselves. They had made the same comment in reference to Heero many times before.
Leaning back in her seat, Relena suggested, "We all better come up with the same story to explain where Duo came from, if anyone we know from school or around the city see him. It's not fair that he be stuck inside this house for the rest of his life."
Trowa nodded, "Agreed. We could always just say that Duo is an exchange student who is taking residence here to study law. There are all kinds of programs that have students move in with skilled professionals in their field of study to be taught at home by them personally."
Nodding to Heero, the brunette smirked, "Who better than to stay with your mother, one of the most well-known lawyers throughout Space? I know of a couple teenagers who are going through one of those programs in this city, so it would be believable."
Heero's cobalt eyes lit up as he replied, "That's a great cover story. No one would very question it, since Duo would never have to be enrolled at a current school."
"That could also explain his violet eyes," Wufei commented. "If he's from another nation or Colony, no one would be able to say that his violet eyes are not a normal shade."
Everyone turned to Quatre as he added, "I couldn't even tell that Duo was anything but another, normal teenager, before his sweater was lifted and his cap was removed. It'll be easy to keep his identity hidden."
Duo sat up, his cat ears perked and his tail waving happily as he smiled, "This is cool, keeping such a big secret just between all of us."
With a frown of concern, Heero reminded him, "We just have to make sure that it stays a secret. You remember my mother's greatest condition in your staying is that no one else can know what you really are, whatever that is."
Trowa smirked, "Don't worry. We'll make sure that this does not go any further than those of us here."
Gasping in excitement, Relena smiled asked, "So is this were we all cut the tips of our fingers and make like a blood brother and sister pact?" Beside her, Duo looked to her in concern with wide eyes at the thought of having to cut himself.
As he rolled his eyes, Wufei smacked his head and sighed deeply, "Girls." Looking to her, he inquired, "Where the do you get this stuff? Do all girls like you think that's how we men handle things when we make agreements like this?"
Relena fixed him with her pair of narrowed eyes. Raising an eyebrow, she stated, "Last I checked, there were only boys at this table."
The Chinese teenager snorted and allowed the blonde girl that one point as she continued, "And I will admit that maybe some of the girls I talk to might have a misconception of how you *boys* handle matters like this."
Her head lowered a bit, Relena frowned and shrugged, "I've only been in this group with you guys for a couple years now, so I've never been part of any meetings like this. The thought of a blood pack just sounded neat to me."
Across from her, Quatre smiled reassuringly, "It's all right, Relena. At times like this, we just take each other's word when making a pact like this." Trowa grinned and nodded his own understanding for their only female friend.
With a firm nod, Heero addressed everyone as he asked, "Then we're all agreed to use the cover story that we've discussed." Everyone at the table gave their own firm nods of agreement. Smiling, the Japanese teenager stated, "Then we're settled on it."
At that announcement, Noin stepped from the kitchen, carrying a large ice cream cake as she smiled, "On that note, I think it's about time we celebrated." Zechs followed with a small grin on his face as he brought the dessert plates and silver wear.
Duo's violet eyes widened at the sight of the cake, as Noin set in front of him. Smiling lovingly up at his guardians, he said quietly, "Thanks, Mom and Dad." The young woman grinned down at him as she reached up to pat the top of his braided head. Duo purred deeply as he leaned into the touch.
On the other side of the table, Quatre and Trowa blinked in shock as they asked at the same time, "'Mom and Dad'?"
It was Zechs's turn to smile in pride as he nodded to the blonde Arab, "Noin and I have more taken Duo in as our own." His 'son' smiled up at him as the tall man placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it.
Another small whimper escaped Relena's throat. Wufei covered his ears as he moaned, "Aw man. Here comes yet another dose of estrogen."
"That is the sweetest thing that I've ever heard!" the blonde girl exclaimed. The Chinese youth grumbled to himself as his friends all rolled their eyes. Quatre tried to contain his laughter as he shook his head in amusement.
Lowering his hands from his ears, Wufei sighed again, "Girls." Relena stuck her tongue out at him as her only line of defense.
As he passed some slices of cake around, Duo grinned, "Maybe tomorrow we could all go sledding at the park."
"Sledding?" Quatre, Trowa and Wufei all asked as one as they looked to the cat-eared boy as if he had grown another head. Heero just chuckled deeply to himself as he began to dig his spoon into his slice of cake.
Now having her turn to roll her eyes, Relena sighed to herself, "Boys."
* * * * * *
Once all of their friends left for the night, Heero and Duo both fell onto one of the large couches of the living room. Before they had left, their friends all made plans to meet in the early afternoon the next day to go sledding in the park. Relena had promised to provide actual sleds for all of them from her family's storage. Both Heero and Duo were looking forward to another day of fun in the snow.
Sighing deeply, they lied back and recovered from the visit and the many emotions that wracked then leading up to it. After a long, peaceful silence, Duo lied onto his side as he curled up and lied his head in his best friend's lap, facing him.
Heero chuckled deeply as he smiled down to the cat-eared face watching him. As he reached up to scratch behind a large ear, he asked quietly, "Tired?"
Purring at his friend's touch, Duo nodded, "A little. It's been a crazy couple of days." Heero nodded as he closed his eyes again, laying his head back. Biting his lip, Duo carefully sat up and kissed his friend's cheek with a quick peck.
Heero's eyes snapped open at the touch as Duo pulled back nervously. Placing a hand on his cheek where he had been kissed, the Japanese student asked quietly, "What was that for."
With a shrug, Duo blushed slightly as he answered, "I thought that that's what people do when they love someone... they kiss, right?"
The other teenager's cobalt eyes widened as he repeated, "Love?"
Duo nodded innocently and replied smiling, "Well, yea, I mean I love you. So, I thought that I should give you a kiss." Again, the naivety that the braided youth displayed from time to time was such a contrast to the brilliance he exhibited in many other ways.
Smiling reassuringly, Heero told him, "I love you as a friend, too, Duo. But, there are all kinds of love. The kind of love where kissing is involved is different from the type of love we have."
His violet eyes filling with wonder, Duo asked, "There are really different kinds of love?" At his best friend's nod, he hummed to himself. "I'll have to ask Noin to teach me these things when we start our lessons."
Chuckling deeply, Heero nodded, "It's all right. I know there are still a lot of things that will take time for you to understand." He paused and considered the look of embarrassment on his friend's face. Smirking, he leaned forward to peck Duo's cheek.
When he pulled back to smile at the wide violet eyes watching him, Heero shrugged with a grin as he said, "Now we're even." Relief flooded the braided teenager's face as he smiled back.
Heero warned widely as he stretched. As Duo's own yawned echoed his, the Japanese youth suggested, "We better get ready for bed."
"Can I sneak into your room when Zechs and Noin are in bed?" the cat-tailed boy asked as he watched his best friend as he headed towards the stairs.
Peering over his shoulder, Heero smirked, "I would be disappointed if you didn't. I'm getting so used to you being in the same bed with me, I probably won't be able to sleep if you're gone."
A wide smile spread on Duo's face as Heero turned to head upstairs. Bounding up from the couch, the braided teenager all but ran up the steps to get ready for bed. All the while, he still felt the kiss on his right cheek.
* * * * * *
"Before long, it'll be three years since we lost him. You still think that there is any use in continuing this search?"
A deep sigh. "The government has refused to give our testing any further funding, so we have no other choice in the matter. If he is still alive, he would have reached his human state by now." A pause. "Do you realize what it would mean if he's still alive? We would have accomplished what so many told us was impossible."
"I certainly hope that you're right in thinking that he's made it on his own all this time." Another sigh. "It'd be impossible to name all of the benefits that would come from this experiment."
"Exactly. And all of our time and effort would have been for nothing if we give up the search now. I'm not going to rest until we have him back."
A firm nod. "All right. I suppose that I can't leave you to take all the credit for this if you do find him. I'll round of a few of the others to head out with me... again. You're certain that he would not have gone far?"
"Call it a hunch. Even if he did escape, this was the only place that he ever knew when he was made."
"Right. I'll radio you if I find anything, but don't wait up for me."
* * * * * *
Dorothy looked up from the papers on her desk at the sound of a knock on her office door. "Come in," she announced as she sorted her reports into a folder. As the door opened, she smiled at the familiar face of the young man whom she was expecting.
As she gestured to the seat before her desk, the blonde professor said kindly, "Please have a seat, Heero. Thank you for coming during your winder break. I hope that you had a lovely Christmas last week."
Returning her smile, the Japanese youth nodded as he took his seat. "Yes, thank you. I hope you have a nice one, as well. Catherine had told me that she had passed my vid phone number onto you. I was actually glad to hear from you Miss Catalon-," Heero began, but corrected himself at the raised eyebrow he received.
The teenager's smile grew a bit as he tried again, "Dorothy." At her grin and wink of appreciation, Heero continued, "The sooner I can start working with you the more it will help me while I'm attending this college."
An unreadable smile tugged the right side of Dorothy's lips upward. The thought of her redheaded friend's concern for her brother and his friends had given the young professor the motive to take matters into her own hands when it came to Heero. Since she would be working closely with him in the near future, her method of mentoring would not seem suspicious as it would for Trowa or the other young boys.
Her plan in mind, Dorothy smirked, "I had been so impressed with you when I met you at your high school's library that I simply could not wait another three semesters to begin working with you. There is something in you that I have not seen in any other student who hoped to attend this university." She did not have to act sincere, every word of that was true.
Blinking in surprise, Heero grinned, "My mother will be happy to hear that. She was very excited when I told her of our first meeting before the break."
With her resolve firmed by that statement, Dorothy folded her hands on her desk and smiled, "Then she will be very happy to know that I am giving you your first assignment from me. You will have a head start over all your classmates before you are even enrolled here."
At that, Heero straightened in his seat as his curiosity peeked. His mother would be so proud of him in learning that he had been given this opportunity over all of his future peers. He nodded firmly, "What assignment would that be?"
Sitting back in her leather chair, the blonde professor replied, "This project will be an extensive paper that you have the rest of your junior year and then senior year of high school to work on. The due date will be two Julys from now on the 14th. That will be one week before you will be able to enrol at this university for your first fall semester."
With his mother already preparing for that enrollment date, Heero was already well aware of that as he nodded, "What would this subject of this paper be?"
"Life," Dorothy answered simply, a small smile on her lips. At the confusion on the young man's face, she explained, "I want you to write a paper on your life, what interests you have and where you would like to see yourself when you graduate from this college.
"Everyone must have their own reasons for wanting to partake in a certain field for their career. I want to hear your reasons for wanting to have a future in law," she went on and stressed, "Your reasons, no one else's."
At that last comment, Heero swallowed hard. With another smile, Dorothy winked, "I also want this paper to tell me everything I need to know about Heero Yuy and what makes him who he is. I am going to need to know all of this before I begin working with you."
Forcing himself to smile, the Japanese teenager nodded firmly and replied, "You'll have it on your desk before I enrol, then."
After they shook hands and exchanged their good byes until they met again, Heero stepped from the room. Leaning against the office door as he closed it behind him, he sighed deeply. This was going to be, without any doubt, the most difficult assignment that he had ever worked on. He didn't even know where to begin on such a paper. Suddenly, having a year-and-a-half to work on his assignment didn't seem enough.
TBC...
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