Author's Note: Sorry I didn't include the whole visit to Japan, but Kaeru Shisho (my voice of reason) and I agreed it would bog the story down when it should keep moving forward. So you get the highlights only...the better to get you to the final chapter, aka sixty-two. It'll be up soon! Just putting the final touches on it.

Heero's POV

The Wedding Planner Part 61
Acts of Desperation

I ended up spending an extra week in Japan, as I had a devil of a time getting an appointment with the family doctor. All I needed from him was a referral, but scheduling an office visit took longer than I expected. Apparently, he was a very busy man.

Then the day I was due to fly home, a severe storm blew in, cancelling flights and costing me another two days. It was as if the universe was conspiring to keep me away from Duo.

And that was after I'd endured several lengthy counseling sessions in order to prepare myself for the confrontation with my parents, gone through with the confession, and dealt with the fallout. Revealing my sexual orientation to my parents had been--harrowing, to say the least. Telling them I'd broken it off with Relena and was in love with a man was even worse.

My father was probably never going to speak to me again. And my mother was heartbroken over the fact that she'd never have the grandchildren she'd dreamed of. But at least she had the grace to tell me she still loved me anyway, and that maybe someday she'd be ready to meet the man I loved.

Not that I'd ever get the chance to introduce them. At the rate I was going, Duo was a lot more likely to wind up married to Milliardo Peacecraft than me. Don't think I hadn't given that possibility a lot of thought, thanks to the damned storm that delayed my departure two extra days, a very long flight when I finally got one, and an overactive imagination. By the time the plane landed on American soil, I'd nearly convinced myself I was too late to even have a chance of getting Duo back.

Of course, I had only myself to thank for that. I couldn't have set the stage better for Mill if I tried. Where I'd come across as a mindless, jealous fool, he still shone as an example of gentlemanly behavior and style. By this time, he was probably living in the cozy beach house with Duo, enjoying the laughing eyes and delicious lips I'd give my soul to have back. And I couldn't even hate him for that. Duo deserved someone gentle and trusting--someone who'd never doubt him. Milliardo might not be good enough; but he was miles ahead of me.

That was something my psychologist had cautioned me about--my tendency to self-castigation. I was supposed to focus on how much I'd learned from my mistakes; not how horrible I'd been to make them in the first place.

Did he know how hard that was? No matter how much therapy I'd had, I still woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, seeing Duo's battered face and the accusation in the indigo eyes. Why couldn't I just let it go?

Of course, I'd noticed Duo had that same tendency to blame himself for mistakes of the past, as well as those of the present. He'd never once said I was the one at fault for cheating on Relena. Instead it seemed he blamed himself for the whole thing.

"Yuy!" A voice broke into my thoughts, and I turned sharply in its direction.

Wufei was waiting by the baggage claim area, his rare smile a welcome sight, and I walked over and gave him a quick, but very public hug.

He returned it, and then pushed me to arm's length. "I see the therapist made you get in touch with your tactile side, eh?"

"Very funny. Can't I be glad to see a friend?" I said with a feigned scowl.

His expression changed to a more guarded one. "I take it you haven't exactly seen a lot of friendly faces lately?"

"My father was--displeased," I said wearily, grabbing my suitcase off the rack, and setting it aside while I watched for the second one.

"Did you expect him not to be?"

"No. There were no surprises there," I said with as little bitterness as I could manage.

"How about your mother?"

"She loves me dearly and is disappointed that she won't have grandchildren to adore," I sighed.

"Mothers are generally more forgiving than fathers," came the sage reply.

"Yes, but he's the head of the household, and if he decides she can't communicate with me, she won't," I reminded him.

Wufei snorted wryly. "Of course she will--because while he may appear to be the head of the household, she actually is." He'd found my second suitcase, and grabbed it off the baggage carousel, nodding towards the exit.

I chuckled in spite of the gravity of our conversation, as we made our way out to Wufei's car. "Why Mister Chang, I always thought you believed women to be the weaker sex."

"Only physically, Yuy," he said frankly. "Just ask Sally. She knows how to get her way with me, despite my best intentions." He shook his head. "Being married has taught me that no matter how weak they might appear on the surface, women are not pushovers."

I had to agree with that. Relena had always been very good at getting her way, by any means necessary. Now I just wanted to get my way, which at the moment meant getting Duo back. And yes, I was willing to use any means necessary.

"Have you heard anything about Duo?" I asked bluntly, throwing my stuff in the back seat and sliding in next to Wufei.

"I had coffee with him last week."

I gave him a sharp look. "'Fei! I thought I told you to just give him room and let him have his privacy."

"I know, but I wanted to be able to answer that question you just asked."

"How was he?" I couldn't help but inquire.

"As charmingly irreverent as always."

I gave a frustrated sigh. "I meant, was he okay? Last time I saw him--was only a week after I--"

"He was fine. Not a mark on him."

"Good."

"I got him to drop the restraining order."

Well, that earned my friend a jaw drop. "You did? How?"

"I asked."

Wufei never gave more information than he had to, and I glared across at him as we headed out of the airport parking garage. "Elaborate."

"Well, when the news hit the society page that you and Relena were officially a thing of the past, I thought perhaps it might benefit Duo to hear that you'd gotten some counseling, and were serious about getting your life in order." He glanced aside at me, his dark eyes vaguely amused. "And I thought it might benefit you to have the restraining order gone when you got back."

I didn't know whether to be angry with him or grateful. While I balked at his interference, I had to admit, getting Duo to make even a small concession was a major coup. If he was willing to lift the restraining order, he might be willing to talk to me, or even meet with me eventually.

"You're welcome," Wufei added, a tiny smirk on his lips as he'd apparently read the play of emotions across my face.

I grinned wryly. "Since you're the expert on how to handle Duo without inciting a riot, would you like to hazard a guess as to how long I should wait to call him?"

"As a matter of fact, I think you should do it as soon as possible," he told me. "I'm telling you, Yuy--he still feels something for you, even if he won't admit it. The sooner he knows you still care about him, the better." He smirked wickedly. "You do still care, right?"

"No shit." I shook my head, unable to repress a smile.

~*~

Of course, my first few days back at work left me no time at all to get in touch with Duo. There was a backlog on my desk that needed immediate attention. Fortunately, I'd been able to keep up with many of my projects via weekly calls to Wufei and internet connections to my office computer. But I'd still need several days to get caught up and finalize the contracts Wufei had worked on in my absence.

Along with the heavy workload, I was subjected to a meeting with my supervisor, who apparently read the social pages, and had seen the article that suggested I was gay. I told him straight out that it was no rumor, and that if the company wanted to make an issue of my sexual orientation, they could discuss it with the best lawyer I could find.

His reply was that the company obeyed the letter of the law concerning discrimination based on sexual orientation. In addition, he told me that I was too valuable an employee for them to summarily dismiss because of my sexual preferences, even if the law didn't prohibit it. But he also cautioned me to keep it out of the office and as far out of the public limelight as possible.

Should I get into a serious scandal, as I'd recently come so close to doing, I had no doubt they'd drop me in a heartbeat, using whatever excuse covered their asses. But for the time being, and the foreseeable future, they turned a blind eye, and let me resume my job and pick up where I'd left off in my considerable workload.

~*~

On Friday afternoon, when my desk phone rang and I saw Quatre Winner's name on the caller i.d., I swear my heart skipped a beat. We hadn't talked since I called him that one time from Japan to ask him to be sure Duo knew I'd respect his privacy and stay away from the places he frequented. I couldn't think of a reason for him to be calling, unless something had happened to Duo.

"Yuy here," I said quickly--almost sharply. "Quatre? Is Duo all right?"

There was a short, wry chuckle on the other end of the phone. "What're you looking for? Brownie points?"

"Don't screw with me, Winner. There's no reason for you to call me unless it concerns Duo. Is he okay?"

"Yes, he's fine. Well...more or less."

I ground my teeth together. "What's 'more or less' supposed to mean? Is he, or is he not, okay?"

"He is. It's just--he's--he put the cottage on the market and is planning on going back to L2," Quatre blurted in a rush.

"What?! When?"

"Soon. He made the decision while you were in Japan--and when I spoke to the realtor this afternoon, nothing had changed."

"But--why?" I felt like my lungs were unable to expand--as if there were an iron band around my chest so tight I couldn't draw breath.

"He runs and hides," Quatre muttered almost under his breath. "I think he wants to start fresh somewhere that he won't be reminded."

"Of me?"

"Of everything--but yeah, mostly you."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I have selfish motives, Heero. I don't want to lose Duo--and I'm afraid if he runs off to L2 something might happen to him far away where I can't help. Or he'll be too proud to call me if he needs something." He drew a shuddering breath, as if he were overcome with emotion. "I have unselfish motives, too. I want him to be happy, and I've known him long enough to know he won't be if he leaves Earth. He may be functional--he may even manage to act like he's content--and maybe even be content, eventually. But he'll never be happy."

"Why not?"

"Because he needs someone who loves him more than he loves himself to look after him and cherish him and remind him of what a special, brilliant individual he is. And he won't find that person on L2."

"Where then?"

"I think you know the answer to that. I hope you do."

"What are you trying to say?" I asked carefully, not daring to believe Quatre was considering trusting me with his best friend's happiness.

"I'm saying if you think there's even a chance in a million that you could make him happy, you only have two days to try. His shuttle leaves Monday morning."

"Monday? Oh God." My voice sounded more breathless than I expected.

I'd thought there was time...time for me to gradually work my way back into Duo's life...time to show him my intentions were good and that I truly cared. But time had run out.

"Trowa and I are having dinner with him Sunday--a kind of farewell party. We're going to help him finish packing, and make sure he doesn't spend his last night here alone."

"How can you just let him leave?" I demanded in horror. "A farewell party? Why not just buy him the damned shuttle ticket?"

I heard a little growl of irritation. "Do you think this was my idea? Don't you think I tried to talk him out of it? Damn it, Yuy! I tried every argument I could come up with, up to and including reminding him that both his fiancés are buried here. He wouldn't budge. And if I'd pushed any harder, he'd probably have left without telling me."

"I--I'm sorry. I just--this is kind of a shock. I thought he'd be happy in the beach house--at least long enough for me to have a chance to talk to him again." I rubbed my forehead wearily. "What should I do? What can I do?"

"The restraining order's been lifted. You can at least call him. Talk to him. Try. If you have anything to offer him, now's the time."

"You'd let me? I thought you wanted to keep me away from him."

"That was before I talked to your friend, Mister Chang. When Trowa told me he met with Duo, I wanted to know what they discussed, so I had lunch with Wufei a couple of days later. Apparently Duo hadn't mentioned leaving Earth. But he did seem to listen to Wufei's assertions that you were serious about getting your life sorted out and not repeating past mistakes. And frankly, so did I." I could almost hear a smile in that smooth voice. "Your friend makes a strong case in your favor, Yuy. You should keep him around."

"I expect to," I said dryly. "So, Chang's silver tongue convinced you I deserved the opportunity to try again with Duo?"

"That and my desperation," came the frank reply. "If this doesn't work, I'm all out of ideas. I want Duo to be happy, and he's not. If there's a chance that you can make him happy, I'm willing to let you take it. But I'll warn you right now--it's your last chance. I'll be completely behind you if you really have his best interests at heart. I'll be your strongest proponent. But if you hurt him again--"

"I won't! I swear, Quatre!" I blurted vehemently. "I love him." A previous conversation with Quatre came back to me, and I knew exactly what to say to put his mind at ease. "I love him more than the sun, the moon, and the stars. And I'll do whatever it takes to prove that to him, if he'll let me."

I heard the softest of sighs on the other end of the phone. "If you need anything to help with that, call me."

I almost laughed in relief, as one of the obstacles I'd been most concerned about was lifted from my path to Duo. Not having to contend with the animosity of his best friend was a huge load off my mind. "Thanks, Quatre! I have to go. I have a lot to do." I put the phone down and immediately began making preparations.

I'd had a nebulous idea for a plan to win Duo's heart if I ever got up the courage to try. Now, it seemed, I'd have to find the courage quickly or risk losing him forever; I was running out of time.

~*~

When I burst through the door to Wufei's office, he looked up in surprise. "What's up?"

"I have to go home early," I said urgently. "Cover for me?"

"What? Why?"

"Duo's leaving for L2 on Monday. Quatre just called to tell me. I have to get a few things together, get to the beach house, and try to convince Duo to stay here--with me."

The dark eyes widened. "Are you talking about--making it permanent?"

"Only if you consider 'forever' to be permanent," I said with a wry smirk. "Can you finish the Harland project for me?"

"Only if you consider 'me' to be your best man," came the teasing reply.

I grinned unabashedly at him. "There was never a doubt, 'Fei. I'll call you--after I have an answer."

"Good luck," he called after me, and I heard a warm chuckle follow me down the hall.

TBC...

 

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