Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ A new life ❯ Chapter ten: The end ( Chapter 10 )

I got so many reviews last chapter! They inspired me to start correcting this chapter today (And of course, the death threats helped too…^_^). I know I left it at a cliff-hanger and I know that is unfair since this is the last chapter and I also know that the story seems far from finished, but just read on and be satisfied. It's already longer than the other chapters are, but I'll still tried to add something extra here, for all of you who requested this.

Review responses

Battousai: SOMETHING happened! Read on to find out. Enjoy the last chapter!

Duo/Folken/TK: There will be more of Hilde. Thank you for your vote and enjoy the last chapter!

Midnight-Kisses:Yes, you mentioned 5x2. well, here's the last chapter. Enjoy

Westwind: I prefer friendships too, but next story will be my first pairing and this is going to be a real challenge. The fact that nothing is resolved yet is what makes this ending so great. I like open endings. Just read the last chapter and have fun!

Sapphire angel: I will, here's the last chap. Enjoy!

Galyn: nope, it's not too late. Thank you for your vote. And please don't hate me! Here's next chapter! *throws chapter and hides behind a chair* Fast enough?

Voices Of Insanity: Here's next chapter, please put the bazooka down now? See for yourself what happens. And thank you for your vote

Cryearthstearsfalltou: Did I finally get your name right am I going to end the story. Today some things will be resolved, just read on. And yes, there will be a sequel… someday…^_-

Devylzangyl: Nope, it's not too late yet! Thanks for your vote, I'm glad you like this story so much. Here's last chapter!

SanosukeLover - Milly Maxwell: *Waves with paper* Here's the next chapter, please let me go! ^_^ Enjoy reading it

Kyra: Here he is! Read on to see what happens.

^ ^ ^

Okay, that were the reviews. Now on with what you've all been waiting for. . .the LAST CHAPTER!

^ ^ ^

A new life

Chapter ten: The end

Duo woke up with a terrible headache. He groaned as he opened his eyes and saw he was surrounded by darkness. He took some time to let his eyes adjust to this before he tried to get up, only to realise he already was up. Half up at least, he was sitting up straight, in a chair, but for some reason, he couldn't move his hands?

It took a moment to dawn in on him what must've had happened. FUCK! Someone had surprised him and grabbed him and hit him on his head and now he was tied up?! He began moving his wrists, trying to break free of the ropes that were holding him tied to the chair. Then he heard an amused voice, causing him to freeze.

"Squirm all you want, little one, it won't work."

Damn it! Duo recognised the voice, but he still had a headache from the hit on the head, so he couldn't get straight whom exactly it belonged to. Only one way to find out in a position such as this. ..

"Who the hell are you? And where am I?"

"Why, you're in the orphanage, of course. As to the question who I am, why don't you see for yourself?"

That said, the light switched on and Duo saw he was indeed in the orphanage. He was in one of the bigger bedrooms facing the window. The door was behind him so he saw no one yet. Until a figure decided to step into his visual range, coming face to face with Duo. Long, brown bangs of hair covered half of the face that was smiling satisfied.

Duo glared up at him and a growl left his troth as he called the person responsible for this all by his name "Trowa!"

"I'm pleased to see you remember me so well." The tall one said in a mocking tone. "I hate to be forgotten."

Duo glared at the rich boy, but he couldn't think of anything to do. Trowa stepped forward, clearly satisfied by his captive's anger.

"We have something to settle between us. You see, no one makes a fool out of me and gets away with it just like that." Trowa said as he walked to stand behind Duo and grabbed the boy's shoulder, squeezing it to show his power. "And you managed to do it in front of a whole lot of people. You really made me angry, you know that?"

"You can go to jail for kidnapping, you know that?" Duo spat back. "And your money ain't worth nothin' in there!" Nice choice of words if he did say so himself. Checking the grammar he was double denying, which actually confirmed the fact that it would be useful indeed. Many of the guards would be easy to bribe, or so Duo figured, which meant that technically he wasn't lying, but he was scaring the rich bastard.

Trowa, now in front of Duo again, smirked. "And I guess a street rat like you should know, eh?"

"WHAT!"

"You were right when you told little blondy I was planning on getting back to you." Trowa lowered his head until his mouth reached Duo's ears. "But now I have a much better idea." He backed up again and turned his back to Duo.

"This orphanage exists because of MY money. And I don't want it wasted on a dirty, lowlife, good-for-nothing street rat. So I decided you'll have to go. Out of your own free will of course" Trowa added the last part as if he would give Duo a choice but he didn't buy it.

"You eavesdropped on a private conversation? Who would've guessed, the rich boy going so low. An' that for nothin' but a street rat." Duo grinned at the boy. "Well, I've got some news for you too, buddy. I ain't goin' nowhere so untie me now before I get really angry."

Trowa laughed and made a movement with his hand. Only moments later Duo felt something touching his shoulder and he realised he was not alone with the rich boy. He guessed the ones behind him were the same ones that had grabbed him before. He moved his shoulders as much as the ropes would let him.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME YOU DIRTY. . ." Then he felt something touching his braid and his eyes grew wide as he realised what they were planning to do. "No, no not the HAIR!"

"Relax, little rat, nothing will happen to your precious braid. That is of course, IF you decide to sign this." He showed Duo a form that one needed to fill in if requesting to be transferred. The form was all filled in under his name and even a reason why he would want to leave was there. All that it needed now was a signature.

Duo narrowed his eyes at the boy in front of him. "Never!" He almost growled.

But Trowa just laughed. "Are you sure? I know you'd hate to see that brown hair of yours go. How long did it take you to get it this long? And besides, if it does, than how am I going to hurt you by pulling it?" At that the braid received a hard yank, causing Duo to yelp in pain.

"Now sign it!"

"NO!"

"Fine then." Trowa looked at whoever was behind Duo. "Cut it off."

Duo closed his eyes, waiting for the weight on his head to lessen, but it never did. Instead, a voice spoke up. "I-I don't know, Trowa. Should we really be doing this?"

"Yeah," another voice spoke, "I mean, what if we get caught? It's not like his hair won't be noticed and stuff."

Duo now recognised the voices. They belonged to the identical twin, Jeice and Darryl, Trowa's `first henchmen'.

"If we get caught, they won't do anything to us. They can't. If they do, they'll loose their money and the building's got to close, including the school, remember?"

"Maybe they won't do anything to you, but we're not rich, you know. They'll throw us out for sure!"

Trowa started to sound irritated now. "I'll cover for you guys, just do what I pay you for!"

"Cover for us? Like you did last time?" the hand on Duo's shoulder was withdrawn now. "Sorry Trowa, but count me out. It's going too far. I don't want to have anything to do with this anymore."

Duo heard footsteps, followed by something being put down and a door opening.

"Fine! Go then! Do as you wish!" Trowa yelled as the door slammed shut. "But don't you EVER expect anything from me anymore, Darryl!" He looked at the one still present. "I'll pay you double, Jeice, to do it."

Duo felt the grip on his hair loosen until his braid was free again. "Sorry, Trowa. But why don't you spend your money one something better and do it yourself." Again the door opened and closed as the second boy left.

Trowa glared at the door but didn't say anything. Duo saw this was his queue to speak up. "What? Did your servants leave you? Aww, poor boy. Well, if you'd just been eavesdropping yourself you would've heard me saying that your money would become your downfall eventually. Your actions can not exactly be explained as a singular way of buying friendship and of course everybody knows that bought friendship just isn't as good as. . ."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Trowa now grabbed the braid himself now and pulled it down hard enough to make Duo yell in pain as his head was forced backwards. Trowa's face was red with anger as he did so. He grabbed something from behind him, probably the scissors Darryl was holding before.

Duo tried to move his head in panic. "NO, GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME! DON'T DO THAT! NO!" he yelled desperately, but Trowa just laughed harshly as he put the scissors against Duo's hair. He was just about to cut it when the door suddenly burst open, causing Trowa to jump and relocate the scissors before he cut.

Duo felt how Trowa's hand yanked his braid once more before he let go and was slammed against the wall in front of Duo. He felt how someone reached for his hands and began to untie them.

"You don't belong here, you dirty street rat!" Those were Trowa's last words before a certain Chinese fighter knocked him out with a single movement.

As soon as Duo's hands were free he reached for his hair. He realized Trowa did manage to cut of a few centimetres, but he was relieved that was all. For a moment there he thought that the last memory of his past would be gone by now, but luckily Wufei came just in time.

Duo got up from the chair, only to fall to his knees immediately. Not only was he exhausted, but injured as well from the fight he'd put up with the twin when they caught him. He realised he was still a little dizzy from the hit on his head. Someone ran up to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Duo! Are you all right?" Duo recognised the voice next to him belonged to Quatre. He glanced around to see who else was there and spotted Heero near the door as if guarding it. Then he looked at the youth who had kneeled next to him. "Yeah, I'm fine, thanks." He reassured his friend. "Just a bit dizzy, that's all."

At that moment Sally walked in, followed by Jeice and Darryl. She glanced at the scene before she rushed forward to help check Duo. When she saw he was all right she walked up to Trowa. After checking his pulse she gently picked him up. She glanced at the twins. "You two are dismissed. You'll hear from me later." Then she turned to the others. "You four go to my office and wait for me while I take Trowa to the infirmary." She looked at Duo. "Do you think you can make it there?"

Duo nodded and Sally left the room, carrying the unconscious Trowa. Heero bent down and supported Duo's body as he and Quatre helped him up. Slowly the trio started for sally's office, followed by a silent Wufei.

"How did you guys find me?" Duo finally asked.

To his surprise it was Heero who spoke up. "Quatre came to the room, asking me if he knew where you were. Obviously you two were supposed to meet but you never showed up."

Duo nodded. "And what were you planning on doing to me once you found me?"

"Rip your troth out."

Duo chuckled at that. That was Heero for you, always blunt. "And you brought Wufei to witness that? Boy, must that be a let down." He joked.

Wufei spoke from behind them. "For your information, I came back from the club early and I ran into Heero as I walked to my room. Yes it was a letdown that I didn't get to see him killing you. Though hearing your cries and getting to beat up Trowa instead pretty much covered the disappointment."

Wufei's voice wasn't as mean as the words were and Duo could hear he didn't really mean all of it. He laughed nervously. "Well, I guess I owe you guys a thanks. You really saved my butt in there, unintentionally or not. So, thank you for looking for me. I never thought anyone would bother to come."

"Don't get any ideas now, Duo." The Chinese boy said. "I still don't like you and I am not on your side. I just did what was justified."

They'd reached Sally's office now. Heero opened the door while Quatre still supported Duo's bodyweight. He put the braided boy in a chair and the three of them sat down too.

"Why?" The braided boy glanced at Wufei.

"Because that's the truth."

"That's not what I mean. You've hated my guts ever since you walked trough that door my first day here. Why?"

Wufei was silent for a second as he stared at his feet, thinking of the truth and the right words to put it in. "I had never shared my room before. I guess I wasn't willing to give up my freedom."

"So you weren't angry with me in the first place?"

"You started irritating me and then you attacked me." Wufei explained, crossing his arms. "Why were you so mad about it anyway, it was just a CD. Or does everybody on the streets go ballistic over a thing as such?"

Duo shot an angry glare at Heero, who shook his head. "Jeice and Darryl." Was the brief answer to the braided boy's unspoken question.

Duo looked down. "The first thing I'd ever bought with money I'd actually saved myself, and you broke it."

Wufei looked at him. "I didn't know that." He said quietly.

"Guess we were both being unfair then." Duo looked up and started smiling again. "How about a new start then. "I'm Duo, nice meeting you." With a wide grin on his face he stuck his hand out to the other youth as he said this.

Wufei looked at the hand but didn't take it. Instead he smirked. "Same here, Maxwell."

Duo blinked. "Maxwell?"

"You're going to have a last name if you want me to address you properly."

Duo thought about it. "Perhaps. . . but does it have to be Maxwell? I mean the whole orphanage is going to look up if you call me!"

Wufei's smirk increased. "That's the idea."

Duo pouted but before he could say anything to his defence, the door opened and Sally walked in. She sat down at her desk and rubbed her forehead for a moment. She looked pretty tired and the way her voice sounded just confirmed she was. "Jeice and Darryl explained one or two things to me about what happened. Are you all right?"

The four boys nodded silently. And Sally continued. "Trowa's still unconscious, but the doctor says he just needs some rest and that he'll be fine. Luckily for you, Wufei, he'll be unharmed, except for a wounded pride perhaps." She let a short silence follow before she continued. "Anyway, it's almost two o'clock now, it's late and I'm tired and I guess that you could use some sleep too. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, but I'll deal with all this tomorrow. You guys can go off to bed now."

The four of them got up and walked out the door where Wufei separated from the others. He nodded once before he walked off to his own room. When the other three reached the point where Quatre had to go another way too, Duo paused. He motioned for Heero to go ahead and when the elder boy was gone, he turned to Quatre.

"Hey, I really wanted to thank you for coming to look for me. And I'm sorry I dragged you into all this."

Quatre smiled. "Don't worry about it, Duo. I'm just glad you're okay."

"Yeah, me too. If it weren't for you guys, who knows what that lunatic would've done."

"What happened in there anyway? And how did he find out about your past?"

Duo glared at the wall. "He had Darryl eavesdropping on our conversation when we walked into him after the basketball game, remember? Trowa said he didn't want to waste his money on a street rat and he wanted me to sign a form to request a transfer. The bastard."

Quatre looked down. "I'm sorry. . ."

"Hey, don't worry about it, Q. It's over now, remember? I don't think Trowa will try anything anytime soon. He's all alone, now that his `most loyal friends' have left him, the others will follow soon."

"I hope so." The blonde one replied.

"How about we go to bed now, huh? I'm really tired."

"Yeah, me too. Good night Duo."

"G'night Q."

Duo watched as Quatre walked off, but before he was completely gone, he called him. Quatre looked back, questioning. Duo smiled. "Thanks. . . for being my friend."

Quatre just gave a nod. With that done, they both went to their own rooms.

Back in his room Duo saw that Heero was already in bed, though he wasn't asleep yet. Duo started changing to his night clothes and crawled in his own bed. Then he remembered he'd forgotten something.

"Hey Heero."

The other boy looked up.

"I'm really sorry I got so angry today. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions and I shouldn't have yelled like that."

Heero nodded but didn't reply. Duo sighed and crawled deeper under his blankets, closing his eyes. Then Heero spoke up.

"You did what I never had the guts to do." Duo widened his eyes and looked at his roommate. "You befriended Quatre."

Duo practically jumped. He hadn't said that he was sorry, but Duo knew this was about as close as he would get for now. "Wow, who would've ever believed that? The great Heero Yuy envies a street rat!" He said jokingly.

"And if you say one word about it I'll rip your troth out."

"Don't worry, Hee-chan! My lips are sealed."

Heero growled at his nickname but they both knew that in his heart he didn't mean it.

Duo shivered, though not because he was cold. For the first time in a long while he was actually warm. How he loved that feeling.

(¯`·._.·[ ¯|¯H3 ÉÃ'à ]·._.·´¯)

Sorry, but it has to end somewhere. I would like to thank all my reviewers for taking the time to comment on this story. You guys really helped me out, even though the story is already finished. You are the ones who cheered me up by telling me that you like my story. THANK YOU ALL OF YOU!

It's strange. I should be happy it's finished and I should be proud of the fact that I've got 2 stories finished here now, but for some reason I'm still sad. I really enjoyed writing this and I looked forward towards your reactions every week. Now that will stop until the sequel is finished. I'd also like to invite you to mail me or add me to msn if you have that. I really enjoy talking to other readers about all kinds of stuff and of course, that way you can encourage me to continue writing on the sequel which I hope to finish soon. So, for everyone who's interested, my e-mail address is in my profile, don't be shy, you're not the first one to mail me!

I know I still left it a bit of an open ending, I like stories the best that way. But for those who are still addicted, don't worry, I'll come back! I am working on a sequel to this story. It's called `A NEW FUTURE'. For more information about it, I will post an extra author's note in a few weeks. There you can read about the sequel. Please read it if you are interested.

Thank you and I will miss you! I love you all!

Little Princess

`No regrets `cause I got nothing to loose'