Liberation Part 1

Duo yawned loudly, stretching his body lazily. Shaking his head to clear his mind, he sighed, feeling a wave of weariness catch up with him. But the fatigue was more of the state of his mind, rather than real physical tiredness. Still, he thanked his lucky stars that he wasn't in the middle of a mission or and probably would not have one for at least a few weeks. After a particularly tough mission, even the doctors agreed that the gundam pilots needed a break. Which was why all of them were currently staying in a 'small' countryside mansion owned by the Winners that was a couple miles away from the city, he mused. As Duo strolled along a corridor, he heard a familiar voice greet him.

"Good morning, Duo!"

Although he had felt someone else's presence in the room earlier, his shoulders still stiffened noticeably with a slight jerk. Taking care, he plastered his infamous gamine grin onto his face, and turned around. "Morning, Quatre! And morning too, Trowa."

Quatre frowned. Duo was seldom skittish, yet his body gestures clearly indicated that he was. He even looked a little haggard, something that had never happened in all the time he knew him. Even cool Trowa found it disturbing, and raised an eyebrow, giving the blonde pilot a knowing nudge.

"What's the matter, Duo? Is anything wrong? You don't look like yourself today," Quatre asked gently.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" The words resounded in his mind, each echo clearer than the last. Duo took a sharp intake of breath, and for a fleeting moment, he thought he was still staring into her violet eyes. But then he blinked hard, and he found himself looking into his friend's aquamarine eyes instead.

"Duo?"

Duo forced a smile onto his face. "Sorry... just thinking of something."

"Is there anything wrong, Duo? You can tell us, you know," Quatre said concernedly, placing a reassuring arm on his shoulder.

But Duo just smirked winsomely. "Nah, just thinking of some... personal stuff. Don't mind me. And well, I just remembered that I've got something to fix in my room. Sorry, but I gotta go! Have fun, guys," he winked playfully, then slipped away.

Hastily, Duo closed the door to his room and flopped down onto his bed. 'That was a close one,' he mused, sighing thankfully in his mind. He couldn't afford to let anyone know his problems. Not yet, if ever. As if on cue, his mind raced back to the strange encounter, the only reason that was causing him to be on edge.

*****

Flashback

As Duo sat on his bed, still very much dumbfounded, the girl continued to gaze at him as though she was trying to make out what was going on. She didn't understand why he seemed almost... afraid to see her. Oh, she had an idea why, but was it that bad?

"Duo?"

As if on cue, her words seemed to break through that fragile trance Duo had trapped himself in. Finally, he asked, "Vespera... why are you here?"

She rolled her eyes, and with a huff, blew at her jagged bangs. Crossing her arms, she answered, "Are you honestly asking me that? I thought it's pretty obvious. Besides, you know why."

Her words were spoken nonchalantly, yet they struck into Duo's heart, reminding him with vengeance the reason Vespera was here. He sighed deeply again, "Yeah... I do know. I just... didn't want to think about it."

"I know what you mean. But that doesn't mean that we should run away from the truth. Duo," she paused, sliding down from the small table she was sitting on in one fluid motion. Leaning against it this time, she continued, "we have to meet the deadline. And it's coming soon!"

"I know..."

"You know? Really? Then would you care to explain to me why you haven't done a damn thing about it? It's been... what? Fifteen years?"

Duo flinched inwardly as he was reminded of his failure. "I know that, you don't have to remind me. But... I just can't seem to find that person. The one I want for life... my beloved... my soul mate... whatever you want to call him, I just can't find him!"

"I know it's hard, but... Duo, it's been such a long time! And now the deadline's rolling towards us like some boulder crashing down a mountain. If we don't fix the problem soon enough, the damn rock's gonna," she punched her fist into her other hand, "flatten us like we're pizza."

Noticing the look of sheer disbelief on Duo's face, she quickly added, "Okay, okay. I was just kidding. But still, the consequences are not good. Not in any way. And you know it!"

He nodded, albeit unwillingly. "How... how long more?"

"One more month. And that's stretching the time limit!"

"One more month..." Duo parroted.

"We can't lose this time, Duo. Not if you want to be happy for the rest of our lives..."

Noting her worried stance, he felt resolution burning inside him again. Duo's lips tightened, and his eyes flashed with a determination that wasn't there before.

"We won't. I promise."

End of flashback

*****

Duo's face hardened at the thought, and bit his bottom lip. He was going to win, no matter what. But victory wasn't going to come if he just stayed in his room all day and vegetate. Resolutely, he shook his head almost violently to shake off the spell of dizziness. It hurt even to think about it. But he understood now. He would never yield, no matter what. No one would manipulate his life!

A sound broke his silent reverie, and he noticed his stomach had been staging a protest in the last few minutes while his mind went elsewhere. Sighing once more, he pushed himself off the soft comforts and headed for the dining area. Fixing that little 'protest' was secondary. Contrary to popular belief, he had better things to do than to eat all day long. If he wanted to keep his problems to himself, he would have to act normal. And Duo Maxwell had a reputation to maintain.

It wasn't long before he reached there, since the place was small. According to Winner standards, that is. As he entered the dining area, he noticed that his friends were already at the table and busily tucking into some toast spread out on the table. He sauntered in, and casually waved. "Ohayo! Ooh, breakfast smells wonderful!"

Quatre flashed a warm smile at him, and answered, "It's just toast, Duo. But well," he winked mischievously and added, "Trowa made this, so I shouldn't be too surprised."

Duo stuck out his tongue, and slid into his seat beside Heero.

"Hmph! You're late for breakfast again, Maxwell. That's the third time this week, and imagine. This is only Wednesday," Wufei remarked almost impassively, betrayed only by that tiny tug at his lips. He sipped into his warm black coffee.

"Well, it's not my fault someone keeps me up all night with all that groaning and moaning," Duo replied causally, grinning widely.

Quatre and Trowa had the decency to blush, and the latter barely held back the urge to toss a toast his way. Wufei just spurted his coffee, his tongue slightly burnt. It was fortunate that he didn't spill the hot beverage on anyone.

"Duo!" all three admonished in unison, faces redder than a ripe tomato.

The braided boy just batted his eyes and gave a charming smile. Wufei, Trowa and Quatre could almost see the halo around his head and the feathered wings spread out behind him. Defeated, they stepped down, knowing better than to try to outtalk Duo when he was full out in 'angelic' mode.

Acknowledging his victory, Duo just turned back to doing something more productive. Namely, eating breakfast. After a few quiet moments, he finally couldn't suppress his curiosity and turned to look at his silent friend. Well, Heero was more silent than ever this morning, not that he ever joined in their almost ritual morning banter, but he had not even made a noise since Duo had came to the dining table. Duo barely resisted the urge to grab that cup of coffee from Heero's table napkin and down it just to get some sort of response, knowing if he did indeed get any, it was probably not good for his health.

Just as he was busy contemplating what to talk to Heero about apart from missions, Wufei suddenly put down the mug of ice water that he was nursing his burnt tongue with.

"I nearly forgot about this. Maxwell, Hilde just called. And she wants you to return her call."

"Hilde? Heh, it's been a pretty long time since we've last kept in touch. Wonder what's she calling me for," Duo muttered thoughtfully.

Unbeknownst to the pilots, Heero Yuy raised an eyebrow.

*****

"Duo!"

Duo smiled at the excited squeal of his friend. He had missed her too.

"Right, it's me. You were expecting somebody else?"

"Of course not, silly. I was just so happy to finally hear from you. It's been what... at least three months since I last saw you on a vid-phone? You're positively evil, Duo, to not let me at least know you're safe all this while."

Duo snorted. "Well, Heero bans me from the phone usually. Says that it comprises mission because it could somehow drop OZ a clue that we're around. Whatever. If it wasn't that we're at Quatre's mansion and on vacation, I doubt he would let me go near within 5-meter radius of the phone. Anyway, what did you call me for?"

"I was just thinking.... Are you free today?"

He went over his schedule mentally. "I guess so. Why?"

"Well, there's just this funfair around... and I've heard people say that the rides there are really fun, the place's kinda pretty... So I was thinking of going, but then I thought about asking you along! I mean, the more the merrier, right? Besides, it'd be really boring if I went alone." Her tone was somewhat casual, but Duo could detect a hint of nervousness. It was well shadowed by her enthusiasm, but it was there.

He furrowed his brows in concentration. 'I need to relax for a while, and go somewhere Ves can't find me. It's bad enough that I have a deadline to meet, but to see her again is exhausting.' Straightening his thoughts, he replied, "Yeah, sure. Let's go together."

After choosing a rendezvous point with Hilde, he ran back to his room grab a few things. He was ready in under a minute, and he quickly headed out.

*****

Spotting Hilde in the corner of his eyes, he waded through the large crowd towards the petite girl. Silently, he grumbled, 'Is it just me, or is this place packed like a can of sardine?' With more than a little effort, he gingerly elbowed his way over. Waving his hands wildly, he shouted, "Hilde! Over here!"

She blinked, head turning around to look for the person calling for her. When she saw him, a wide grin broke onto her face and she waved back with an excited reply. Apologizing profusely to those around her, she squeezed her way through the crowd. Finally, after some more pushing and shoving, Duo gathered his friend into a gentle embrace.

"How have you been?" they asked simultaneously.

They looked at each other for a surprised moment, then broke into peals of laughter.

"You ready?" Duo asked with a lopsided grin. Receiving a nod, he took Hilde's hand and led her into the funfair.

*****

Duo grabbed another ball from the flustered stall keeper, and had to grin at his apprehensive expression. Apparently, the stall didn't have that much prizes left. And him winning a good part of them didn't make the poor fellow feel any better.

With trained accuracy, he hurled the ball. It crashed into the bottom row of the stacked tin cans, effectively bringing the whole lot down. He grinned even wider.

"Wow! You're really good at this, Duo. You've won ten times consecutively already!" Hilde clapped her hands like a child getting a big Christmas present, face revealing sheer admiration. "You know, as accurate as I am in target practice, I can never win at these games!"

The braided pilot shrugged with mock arrogance, and threw her another smirk. "Can I help it if I'm a sharpshooter? I do this for a living, you know?"

She scrunched her face in a pout, sticking out her tongue. "Cocky."

"Well hon, if you have it, flaunt it," Duo said solemnly, like he was giving advice to a patient. And Hilde just laughed again.

"Well, with the defeat of the malevolent tin cans, the hero has saved the day again! C'mon, my dear partner, choose one of those damsels in distress!" he japed, pointing to the row of soft toys sitting on the shelf behind the stall.

Hilde stifled a laugh, and did a little curtsey. "Why, I'd love to. But you see... you've simply rescued too many and well..." Glancing down at her arms full of cuddly toys, she flashed another smile. "Nope, I haven't got place for another."

Duo mock frowned helplessly, lips curling at the sides. "In that case then, I suppose I'll have to take it." He looked at the remaining toys left behind, and his eyes sparkled when he laid eyes on an extremely cute one which Hilde had missed earlier. It was a pair sewn together at their hands and legs, positioned in such a way that they were hugging each other while sitting down. One had white angel wings and a little halo on top of its head, while the other had a pair of bat wings and two little horns on its head. Looking at it, Duo grinned. 'I can definitely picture Wing and Deathscythe doing this.'

With more than a few soft toys that would take up Hilde's bed, they decided to call it a day, much to the relief of the owners of the games stalls. After purchasing some hotdogs and soda, they took a well-deserved rest on a wooden bench on the quieter side of the funfair. It was quiet, and the two were caught in their own thoughts as they ate.

After some time, the braided pilot caught sight of the rapidly darkening sky. "Hey Hilde. It's getting late. I think we should be going," he said, stuffing the last bit of hotdog into his mouth. Absently, he tossed the wrapper to his side, and it landed precisely in the rubbish can.

"Yeah, I guess so," Hilde replied with a light smile, although Duo couldn't help but notice a small trace of reluctance in her.

"I'll walk you back," he suggested, and took a few of those easily earned toys from her with a grin.

She nodded almost anxiously. "Thanks."

On the way back, they talked about everything that they could think off. The weather, the newest movie, the best music album recently... There were few moments of silence between them, but Duo felt awkward. More so than if they were completely silent, he was sure.

For reasons unknown, Hilde seemed nervous. Her brows were knitted, and her lips almost a taut line. The most horrible thing was what she was doing to the poor yellow bunny and pink cat in her hands. Duo was actually pretty sure that that was an unconscious action. Namely, squeezing the two stuffed animals to her chest in a death grip and suffocating them. If they were alive, that is.

Since Hilde didn't stay too far away from the funfair, it wasn't before long that they reached her house. With a brief 'goodbye', Duo turned to leave.

"Duo! Wait!"

He spun around, confused. "What? What's wrong?"

Biting her lips, she quickly deposited the soft toys at her doorstep. Turning back to face Duo, she took in a deep breath, face tinged with red. "Well, Duo... I..."

He frowned. It wasn't like his friend to be this wishy-washy. "Yes? Go on," he prodded gently, with a little hand gesture.

Hilde sighed deeply, and echoes of 'I can do it' ran rampant in her mind. Clenching her fists tightly, she lifted her head to see Duo, eye to eye. With the illuminated brightness shining upon him, Hilde thought she was seeing the most beautiful creature to ever grace the world. Gathering up all her courage as though she was going to a difficult battle, she uttered, "Duo, I..."

TBC...

 

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