Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Brownies (He Always Comes Back) ❯ One ( Chapter 1 )

Duo Maxwell loved to cook.

Ever since the war had ended, he and Heero had separated from the others, flying to a deep part of the states, and cutting off all communication except for a measly email address. As lovers, they were completely happy, sharing the day with each other, wound in warm arms of solace. They were perfectly happy. But there had been the slight problem that...neither of them could cook. So, Duo took lessons, and learned. He attended a culinary institution in the nearest big city, about an hour and a half away. Everyday he made the trek, the gas money coming from the after-war support of the Preventers. He also attended school, but it was normal academics. Every night, when Duo returned, his shoulders would be slumped, his eyes half lidded, but when he saw Heero and the kitchen's refrigerator, he would perk up immediately. He would give Heero a quick, airy kiss on the cheek, and would begin dinner immediately.

Oh, it was the most exotic of meals sometimes. From spicy Cajun stews and gumbos to Italian Manicotti with breaded Parmesan chicken. Duo did the simple things, too - fried chicken, flat green beans, and mashed potatoes. He cooked a mean macaroni and cheese, never once overdoing it on the cheese or milk, never too soupy or too hardened. Heero could never find much of anything to complain about. Then again, he would never open his mouth.

On occasion, Duo would bring home take-out or fast food. Heero had no objective to this either, because no matter where Duo had brought it from, it was always steaming hot and fresh. Sometimes Heero figured that Duo had his own personal stove in the trunk of his '95 Honda Passport. I'd never had the gall to check, since it was a silly thought, anyway.

The best things were the sweets. Oh, yes, Duo was the Candyman. The muffin king. The cookie monster. The chocolate count. Oh, yes, sweets were by far his favorite things to cook. The best nights were when Heero found himself laying alone in their bedroom, staring alone at the ceiling. Then, that luscious smell, offering many prospects of cookies, brownies, cakes, pies, pastries, fudge, cinnamon rolls, and even petit fours, would waft silently through the crack in the bedroom door. Like in a trance, Heero would unwillingly rise from his position, may it be on bed or before laptop, and float to the kitchen, where Duo would be dressed in a simple black apron and a smile. They'd sit together for hours, drinking coffee and eating brownies until they could puke from inhaling the scent. Heero had cracked several jokes on Duo baking in "a few extra ingredients" to help him stay up. Duo had chuckled, leaning over to plant a sloppy, chocolate-tasting kiss on Heero's cheek. Clutching onto each other, for the slightest force against either one of their stomachs would make then both burst, and it would not be pretty.

Sometimes it would be cookies, or scones, or little miniature cherry pie pockets. But Heero secretly loved brownies. Because Duo always iced his brownies, and Heero's guilty pleasure was seeing that beautiful pink tongue dart out to innocently test the batter for readiness, or to make sure the icing wasn't harmfully poisoned. Those were Duo's excuses, anyhow.

They moved to the little community one year after the tumult with "the Khushrenada brat," as Duo referred to her as. Another year passed with them living in complete harmony...alone to live the lives they never had. The following spring, they adopted a child.

Juliana Videl Maxwell-Yuy was five years old when Heero and Duo took her into their home. She was a curious child, but well behaved. Duo hardly had to tell her to stay out of the way when he was cooking. Kicking her out of the kitchen all together was a bit rough on the girl, so he told her once, and only once, to keep a good distance from his area. And so, every time at dinner, the little girl sat at her place, coloring or writing nonsensical scripts across a yellow pad of paper. And, after their first dinner, she would slip from the table, clearing her crayons and pencils away to store them in an oak drawer of the desk. She'd run to the guest bathroom, pull the stool out, stick her grimy hands beneath the faucet, and return to dinner looking like a miniature angel. Tattered dirty blonde hair had hung around her face, but Duo had taken her out to get it cut and possibly arranged in a life long style or something. Now that tow mop seemed to always want to be pulled back, so back and somewhat short (thought long enough for a complete ponytail) it was kept.

Like Heero, "Julie" was interested in Duo's cooking. But she watched him a lot. Now that they had a child, Duo spent his time at home, having long since finished his term at the culinary school. He'd spend most of the day cooking for charities and churches. Heero knew the reason behind this, but Julie was oblivious. She found it amazing how fast her Daddy's hands worked, how graceful and at ease they seemed with a whisk or a spatula.

Duo became known as "Daddy" and Heero as "Poppa."

The following summer, Heero left to join the Preventers.

It had only been for a week, but Hell for Duo. Life without Heero meant no life at all. For two days of the seven, he lazed around the house, staring at the TV without hearing or really watching it. Then, Julie had intervened. "Poppa wouldn't like you to do this! Poppa hates it when people don't do things because of him!" Duo, surprised that she was even coaching him, for she rather chose Heero's company to hers, bucked up. He cooked again. Julie seemed brighter too. Aside from some of her sleepless nights; waking up screaming for her Poppa, crawling into Duo's bed whimpering, claiming a bad dream of

'Poppa left us for good.' Duo would hold her, stroke her hair, and she would drift off. The next morning, she would never seem to recall it.

Duo was so outgoing that anyone would think he would be the more trusted parent. But Julie was an extremely good chooser, so she tagged along with Heero, watching him work and not saying anything. It had gotten to the point where Julie would cry silently when Heero left for school in the mornings. Duo would hold her, but she wouldn't stop until she fell silent in sleep. And when Heero returned, she didn't let him out of her sight. Only on weekends did she relent, when she knew Heero wouldn't leave.

.

Heero eventually came back from his weeklong trip, and even Duo wouldn't leave him alone. The braided boy spent several hours locked up with Heero in their room. So many things they did...But Heero continued to go away for the Preventers. As time went on, Duo got used to the weeks alone with Julie. They got a little bit closer, but sometimes, she still woke up in the middle of the night.

One morning, normal as any other, Duo had ordinarily woken up to the sound of Heero getting dressed...and several bags lining the walls of their room. "Heero?"

.

The stoic boy had appeared from their closet, socks building in his arms. "Duo. I have to go away for awhile..."

"Preventers?" Duo asked calmly, for this was inevitable. Turning over, he snuggled into his pillow more comfortably. "Don't wake Julie-chan."

Heero hesitated, looking at Duo with melancholy eyes, realizing that his lover was regarding this as a normal business trip. "I mean...I won't be back for a good...month or so."

Duo shot up, his eyes wide. "WHAT?!" Blankets flew in every direction as Duo stumbled into Heero's arms. "Koi, no! Why!?"

"Duo...please..." Heero sighed, wrapping his own arms around Duo shoulders. "Don't do this to me, don't make it hard..."

"Babe...Heero...don't!" Duo pleaded. "I'll miss you so much! And I know how we can't have contact! I'll go insane, and so will Julie!" He buried his nose into Heero's shirt. "Please, try and pass this one off..."

"I've been trying to pass it off ever since I was told." Heero soothed, rubbing in smooth circles of Duo's back. "I didn't want to tell you because I feared you'd worry...and that you might give them a piece of your mind. Please don't do this, koi."

Duo gave a final sniffle, pulling from the sweet scent of Heero's chest, his cologne, his essence, and staring into those beautiful cobalt eyes. "Promise me you'll come back? Promise me Heero!"

The Japanese boy hugged his lover back, his warm mouth next to a pale ear. With a bit of courage, he whispered, "I promise."

That was three weeks ago. Julie came a little more out of her shell, for she was now a cute child of six. She wore a blue blouse today, and tiny jeans. She was somewhat of a tomboy, but how could she not be? Her fathers had been Gundam Pilots and had seen dirtier. She couldn't help but feel like being to girly would make them alter their love of her. She couldn't bear that.

They were both in the kitchen. Duo was cooking a cheese omelet for lunch, and Julie was sitting at the table, flipping through a picture book, colorful and lifelike drawings of wild cats filling every page. It was silent, save Duo's occasional clatter of silverware or the clang of a pan against metal. The smell of chocolate would soon fill the house like a normal scent.

Julie suddenly looked up from a large illustration of a panther. "Poppa's coming back this time, isn't he?"

Duo smiled, looking back at her. She was too innocent. "Of course. He always comes back, remember?"

Julie shrugged her little shoulders, going back to her book. "I was just thinking..."

"Poppa will come back, Julie-chan." Duo smiled, waving a spatula in the air convincingly. "Your Poppa never breaks a promise."

Julie, seeming content with this answer, closed her book and toddled over to the oven. Duo flipped the internal light on, and the little girl gazed into the mixture of red-hot wires, metal pans, and chocolate. "It looks yummier than ever!" She said, giggling and smiling up at her Daddy. Duo picked her up, tossing her somewhat over his shoulder, taking a tentative sniff. "Peww-ie! You need a bath, missie! Let's get you cleaned up while the brownies are cooking, shall we?"

Julie was giggling as if he were Heero. "I'd like that a lot, Daddy!" Her tiny arms were thrown into a loving grip around Duo's neck, her nose burying into his black clad shoulder.

The bath went smoothly. On some night, the little girl became Julie the Unruly. She simply did not want to take a bath. But tonight, she wanted to be good for her Daddy while her Poppa was away. So she bathed obediently under her father's watchful eye, scrubbing herself 'extra-cleanly' under Duo's approval. She was soon toweled off and in a plush terry bathrobe, her ear-length blonde hair wrapped into a thick towel. As Duo picked her up again, carting her to the kitchen, the timer sounded.

"Perfect timing." Duo said cheerfully, setting Julie on her own little legs. "Turn the telly on the news, will you?" Duo mocked in an English accent. Julie giggled and tottered to the tiny television upon the counter. Standing on her tiptoes, she could just reach the ON button. The evening news blasted up as Duo was removing the brownies from the oven. Steam rose from the dark creation, and Duo inhaled the scent proudly, as if he had just invented them. "Ready to ice them?!" He asked Julie excitedly. The little girl nodded enthusiastically, running across the room to retrieve a small footstool. After plopping it down beside Duo, she climbed up to stand upon the surface; her head was now even with Duo's chest. He smiled down fondly at the little girl, ruffling her hair again. "I know how you love to ice these." He handed her an icing tool, and they set to work, the news reporting a "devastating car crash on the west coast of Florida."

Seven minutes later, they had a beautiful perfectly iced cake. Julie gave a whoop of joy, running to the table to wait for her brownie. Duo, still with that serene smile of accomplishment, pulled out a large knife, and stuck it into the thick chocolate mass that inhabited the 9 x 13 glass pan. Pulling it across the silky façade, he continued to divide the tiny cakes into separate, flawless squares. Duo picked up the pan, preparing to carry it to the table.

"...and in the top news today, the Queen of the World seems to have finally captured her perfect soldier..."

Duo stopped, dead in his tracks, staring at the tiny television with wide, bewildered violet eyes. The mild-mannered blonde reporter looked out to the world with cold, uncaring gray eyes.

"Ex-Gundam pilot Heero Yuy came to her just yesterday to ask for her hand in marriage. IT didn't take long for the queen to reply affirmative to the proposal...the wedding is rumored to be held in late March."

One moment, he had been a happy boy of fifteen again, holding a large pot of delectable chocolate brownies. Now, the weight was gone, meeting the floor with the loudest crash that could ever be heard. Julie screamed deafeningly, calling out to her daddy. But she dare not move as Duo slumped to the floor in the pile of mushy, gooey chocolate frosting and sharp glass shards. His bangs shielded the betrayed emotion in his eyes, and he slipped into unconsciousness, his body folding out to lie over the glass haphazardly.