Since I´m posting this story on ff.net (among other sites), I left out the lemon scene between Heero and Duo and will write it down in a separate side story.

Heh, I´m not dead yet. I´ve just been very very busy. Being an university student is really tiresome sometimes >.<

Due South - part 10

by KatiKat

It was the yell and the sound of dishes shattering on the ground that woke Heero up. He sat up in the bed abruptly and reached automatically for the dagger he had hidden under the pillow. Before he could jump out of the bed though, he had to wait for the room to stop spinning around him.

When it finally stopped, he realized that it was just after dawn and the sun was peeking into their room through the opened curtains. He heard the rustle of bed covers to his left and turned around to see Trowa, dressed in warm sleeping pants, slide out of his bed quietly, motioning to Heero that he would go and see what was going on.

Not wanting to let his friend go alone, Heero lowered his legs over the edge of the bed he was sharing with Duo. The braided young man was probably the only one in the large mansion whom the loud scream and crashing sound didn´t wake up, for he was happily slumbering, curled up in the place Heero just abandoned. The Enforcer smiled, touching the tousled bangs of his soon-to-be official mate´s, then got up and covered him with the warm blanket.

Heero walked quietly to the door Trowa left open, dagger poised and ready in his hand. When he stepped into the sitting room, he noticed that the door leading to Treize and Mil´s room stood now open, the brownhaired aristocrat clad in a silk robe standing in the door with an unsheathed sword in his hand. Heero could hear Mil´s quiet voice from behind him, asking about what was going on.

Heero and Treize nodded to each other and the Enforcer then stepped closer to Trowa where he stopped by the unmade couch in the middle of the sitting room, where Rufus was keeping watch through the night. The tall captain was now standing by the door, armed too, and was opening it carefully.

Suddenly, the door jerked open and before any one of them could react, a happy Shinigami ran in, bouncing in place, eyes sparkling, tongue flapping. Everybody looked at him in surprise.

Then Heero glared at him darkly. "Where were you the whole night, you beast?!" he snapped at him quietly, not wanting to wake Duo up. He glared even more fiercely when he heard the voice of a distraught maid from the corridor outside their rooms. The dog must have scared the hell out of her. And no wonder, with his size and devilish looks.

But Shinigami just wagged his tail and sat down on the carpeted floor in front of Heero.

"I think he just got laid," Trowa deadpanned, crossing his arms over his chest.

Treize and Rufus snickered and Heero blinked in surprise.

"Did you?" Heero asked directly, but then raised his hand and waved it. "Actually, I don´t want to know." He gifted the dog with another dark glare.

Treize cleared his throat and sheathed his sword. "Well, now that the commotion is cleared up, I think we should return to our respective beds. We don´t have to get up for a while and I don´t think that our pajamas are the right attire for a tea party." With that he nodded to them, returned to his room and closed the door.

Trowa chuckled quietly, shook his head and returned to their room too. When Shini started after him, Heero raised his hand.

"Nuh, uh!" he stopped the dog. "You are staying here. And don´t give me that puppy dog look, it doesn´t work on me. You are a hunting dog, not a lap dog. Stay!" he ordered, turned around and with one last glare he disappeared in their bedroom, closing the door tightly.

Shini whined, lowering his head sadly.

Rufus laughed, closed the door and returned to the couch. He laid his sword on the small table and sat down on the soft cushions. "You shouldn´t have run," he admonished the animal, then lay down, covering himself with a blanket. "Bad dogs must be punished, you know that."

Seeing the soldier close his eyes, Shinigami slunk to the door to his master´s bedroom and was about to scratch on it when the tall figure on the cough spoke: "I see you."

Whining softly, the dog lay on the ground, muzzle on his forepaws, and released a deep sigh. Humans. They wouldn´t even let him have a little fun.

*-*-*-*-*-*

"I´m nervous," Duo admitted quietly as he helped Milliardo walk down the stairs. Actually, he didn´t like the fact that he let Heero go on his own but he really needed to talk to another lifebearer, a bonded one, in whom he could confide.

Hand on the rail, Milliardo smiled. "Why? You´re already mates, just making it official now."

Duo huffed. "I´m not nervous about the ceremony. Okay, I am, but that´s not my main concern," he added. "It´s just that... me and Heero... we never... made love before."

"Duo, don´t take what I say now the wrong way but... you´re not a blushing virgin anymore. You know that there is nothing to worry about..."

The braided man frowned. "That´s the problem. I´m not a virgin anymore and..."

The blond man sighed. "Duo, please, you know that Heero doesn´t mind that he won´t be your first. Don´t go borrowing trouble. And besides," he added with a smile again, "it´s always better when at least one of the lovers has some experience, otherwise the lovemaking can turn into an embarassing fumble of virgins which might be funny afterwards, but in that moment it´s just weird."

At that moment Trowa walked past them, carrying little Zechs in his arms. As he was passing Duo, he whispered: "Did you take the thing I gave you?"

The braided lifebearer blushed to the roots of his hair and nodded quickly. Trowa winked at him then continued down the stairs, patting the sleeping child he had laid against his chest on his back.

"What was he talking about?" Milliardo asked curiously as they reached the base of the stairs.

Duo blushed even deeper. "Err, that is... uh... the preser... some sort of protection," he answered very softly.

"Oh, you mean a preservative?" the blond man asked with raised eyebrows heedless of the shushing sounds Duo was making at him. "It´s a good thing. Treize suggested using them when I am well enough to make love again."

Helping the taller man through the entrance door Duo blinked. "He did?" He still couldn´t get used to the idea of having something like that in him.

Mil nodded, walking carefully down the steps leading down the small terrace of the mansion. "He asked around a bit and discovered that it´s much safer for the Bearer then the potion the charlatans who call themselves healers sell in the towns."

Duo blinked again. He couldn´t wrap his mind around the picture of Count Treize Khushrenada, the First General of His Majesty, discussing such intimate things with anybody.

"As you probably noticed," Milliardo continued, "he is rather protective of me." He smiled when Duo snorted. Protective was an understatement.

In an amiable conversation, they reached the coach that was waiting for them. This time there was room enough for everybody. Treize stated that since the bonding ceremony was rather rushed, they could at least arrive properly. And so he hired a large coach where everybody fit and took only a few guards as a sort of ceremonial escort. Rufus sat on the driver's seat of course.

Duo helped Milliardo settle in since Treize was discussing something with the ship´s captain and the chief magistrate, then looked around, trying to find Heero.

*-*-*-*-*-*

"I´m nervous," Heero admitted to his best friend, shifting from one foot to another and wringing his hands. This was such un-Heero-like behavior that Trowa had to smile.

Shifting the child in his arms, Trowa patted Heero on the shoulder. "There is nothing to be nervous about. It´s not likely that Duo would run from you so..."

The Enforcer glared at his friend, then cleared his throat. "You know that that´s not what I´m worried about!" he hissed.

Trowa smiled. "I know. It´s the sex, right?"

Heero glared again. "Don´t make it sound so dirty!"

"Heero, you don´t have to worry. I´m sure that Duo will know what to do," Trowa tried to assure his friend.

"That´s just it. It should be me who knows all about making love," Heero said.

The healer raised his eyebrows. "I beg your pardon? And can you tell me where you got this idea from?"

"I´m the Sire after all. I don´t mind at all that Duo is not a virgin, but I would prefer not to be one either. I would prefer to know something more about sex. It should be the Sires who should take the lead and give pleasure and..."

Trowa rolled his eyes. "Gods, Heero. Why? I know that that´s the way the traditionalists see it and that there are a lot of them in our society but it´s so not true. Do you know where I lost my virginity? In a brothel. A luxurious one but still a brothel." Heedless of Heero's eyes widening, he continued: "It was a one-night fling and I never saw the Bearer again and even though it was hot, I would have still preferred for it to be a true love. There was one thing he taught me though - there is no difference between Sires and Bearers, especially not in bed. And just because you´re a Sire, it doesn´t have to mean you have to be on top all the time."

This time it looked like Heero´s eyes would pop out of his head. He opened his mouth, then closed it and opened it again. "What?"

Trowa couldn´t help but snicker. "Heero, if you didn´t realize it until now, lifebearers and Sires have a very similar physiology."

"You mean... you have... you let.. you..." Heero stammered. He never stammered, but his friend´s confession...

"Yeah, why not? It´s a rather pleasurable experience. And it doesn´t matter if you are top or bottom or if you are in bed with a Sire or a Bearer - as long as you are enjoying it."

Heero frowned and lowered his eyes. His friend gave him a lot to think about.

*-*-*-*-*-*

"Before we start with the ceremony, I have to ask if you´re entering this bond of your own free will," Morska said, as he stepped closer to the young pair, kneeling on the first step from the top of the stone stairs, leading to the altar with the statue of the God-Bearer Nataku himself. The old priest was dressed in his finest white garment and there was a soft, gentle smile on his lips.

"Of course we do," Duo blurted out for himself and Heero, then blushed as the priest and the small audience of his friends chuckled. When Heero squeezed his hand though, Duo looked at him and smiled. "Of course we do," he repeated silently.

"Good." The priest nodded. "I´m sure everybody will be happy to hear that since the... situation we have here is rather... hm... unorthodox... we will skip the part where I should preach about chastity and similar things." The young people laughed again and Morska rewarded them with a grin of his own. "So, we will step now to the main - and shortest - part." He winked at the couple and Heero and Duo both blushed since they knew what exactly would follow this "shortest" part. "Who is the patron of this young couple?"

Treize stepped forward. "I am," he said.

"Good," Morska nodded aprovingly. "The claiming necklace, please." He reached his hand toward Treize.

Treize lifted his arm and let the silver pendant on its chain slip into the priest´s hand. Morska lifted Heero´s and Duo´s clasped hands and wrapped the necklace around them. "Joined and bonded, for now and forever."

"Now and forever," Heero and Duo murmured together as Mil and Treize instructed them to do during the ride in the coach.

"Now and forever," added Trowa, Treize and Mil.

Morska turned to the altar and lifted two clay goblets. In the first one there was a red fluid, in the second one a clear one, looking like water. "The blood of Nataku, to bless your bond with many children and little pain..." He poured the fluid over their clasped hands, the small red rivulets splashing on the stone steps. "The tears of Nataku, to bless your bond with strength and happiness..." He poured the clear fluid over their hands, then raised the still half-full goblets in the air. "The god himself had bled for you and cried for you. When you find yourself crying and bleeding for the love you share, think about this moment. Nataku watches over you and will guide your steps. To the praise of Nataku."

"To the praise of Nataku," Heero and Duo murmured again, their friends repeating their words in silent, hushed tones too.

Morska stepped closer to the young couple and let first Heero, then Duo drink from the goblets - Heero drank the clear fluid, Duo the red one. When the goblets were empty, Morska smashed them on the stone floor in front of the altar. The priest then bent down and took two of the shards in his hand and handed them to Treize, who stepped forward with a clean piece of cloth in his hand, into which he carefully wrapped them. They would serve as a reminder and stand witness to the ceremony of bonding.

"Now stand up, bonded ones," Morska said as he turned to the young mates again. He waited until they got to their feet, then continued. "Everything in human life has two sides - the inner and the outer, the spiritual and the physical, soul and body... Your souls are bonded now, their joining blessed by the God. To seal the bond not only do the souls have to meet and join, but the bodies too... As Nataku has wished and ordered, the most sacred act between two lovers must be performed in private." He swept his arms around. "Let us accompany the bonded ones to the place where they will fulfill the bond that will bind them for eternity..."

Morska turned around and taking long, ceremonial steps, he headed for the back of the temple where the bonding chamber was hidden behind a flowing gold curtain. Duo and Heero followed him, hand in hand, cheeks flushed, eyes overly bright. It looked like they forgot the world around them, and even if it stopped turning, they wouldn´t have noticed. The need to fulfill the bond swept all other thoughts of theirs aside...

When Treize joined his mate, offering him a hand to help him climb the steps, follow the others and witness the "laying" as the final part of the ceremony, Milliardo leaned close to the Count and whispered in his ear: "Do you think we should have told them about the aphrodisiac in the goblets?" His voice was innocent, but there was an underlying tone of mischief in it.

Treize grinned openly and patted Mil´s hand. "Nah, they didn´t need to know everything. Life is full of surprises after all."

*-*-*-*-*-*

Milliardo wasn´t sure what woke him up. Even though it was useless, he opened his eyes and squinted in the darkness that surrounded him. He and Treize were lying naked in their bed, Treize on his back, Milliardo with his cheek on his mate´s chest. The blond lifebearer smiled and pressed himself closer to Treize. That was what heaven must felt like.

After Treize, as the patron of the two mates, signed the temple´s chronicle and Mil received a blessing from the priest, who seemed rather distressed about everything they had to go through after bonding, they left Trowa, Shini and Rufus at the temple to guard the sleep and... other activities of Heero and Duo, and accompanied by the few guards they took with them, they headed back to the mansion.

When they arrived, they asked for their dinner to be brought up to their rooms, wanting some privacy. They almost forgot how it felt to be completely alone, and so they wished to enjoy it to the fullest. After they laid their sleeping son to bed and spent half of the evening over a quiet candlelight dinner, they cuddled together. Milliardo still wasn´t fit enough to make love, but even the physical contact, undisturbed by clothes, felt like salvation.

Mil sighed silently and would have almost drifted back to sleep when... His eyes snapped open. There it was again. It was a silent sound, like a cat walking over a thick carpet. It was more a motion of the air than an actual sound. Shivers ran up his spine. With a sudden clarity, he was sure that there was someone in their room. Someone who had no business being there...

Suddenly, the silence of the room was broken by a clear swishing sound of a metal object flying through the air near their bed. Waiting no longer, Milliardo pushed Treize sharply away from himself. With a surprised gasp, the Count tumbled to the floor while Milliardo rolled from the sheets on the other side of the bed, landing on the thick carpet with a soft thud.

A second later, a sharp blade cut through the pillows on which they were sleeping quietly only the blink of an eye before.


TBC