Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Gundam Wing: Next ❯ A Long Lost Love ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or any of the characters, (or anything affiliated with Gundam Wing). They belong to Bandi Entertainment, Sunrise Entertainment, and the original creator. If I did own them, I'd be rich. Other characters, however, are mine in affiliation with Kirin Rei Shido. She knows that I also have these characters and am writing my own fic based on them. My fan fiction, however, mainly focuses on my character, Shin Kaze Kinyoubi. Besides, I don't even really have a computer that works very well so if you want to sue me, you won't get much. I have to use other people's computer. Well, thanks and I hope you enjoy. ^_^

Again, I have made some small changes regarding time lines in After Colony history. Blah, blah, blah, read what I said in the first chapter. In this chapter, I've also made some plot changes. I needed to make the story more interesting so hopefully more of you will read it. Duo and Shin will "get to know each other" a little better before they actually sleep together. And hopefully, I won't make Shin tell Duo who she is right away. I'm hoping to make it so that the G-boys don't find out whom the girls are until after the mission is over and they desperately need help and seek it from the guys.

-------- = Time/Scene change

*~*~* = Flashbacks

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Gundam Wing: Next - A Long Lost Love

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Duo Maxwell laid in bed wondering where the strange familiar sense came from whenever he thought of Quatre's new secretary, Reina Archer. She looked very familiar to him, like he had met her somewhere before. He was being censer when he said she was cute. Reina reminded Duo of a little girl he met on the L2 colony when he was eight. The moment he saw her, she had stolen his heart. The thing he noticed the most was the girl's vibrant purple eye with small lines of emerald green.

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Duo walked around the market looking for food to buy with the money that Father Maxwell had given him. He didn't find anything he thought they need in the particular isle so he decided to go down the next. Duo started to turn the corner when he had bumped into something. Duo heard a girl complain out of pain from falling.

"Oh, I'm so sorry about that." Duo said.

"No, it was my fault. I wasn't watching where I was going." The little girl said. He looked down at her and met a pair of vibrant purple eyes with lines of emerald green in them. He felt a strong feeling towards the girl the instant he saw her. He had to give her something so that if they met again, he would know it was her. He thought for a moment, then perked up.

"Oh…here, I want to give you this." Duo took his cross from around his neck and placed it around hers.

"Thank you."

Duo thought again for a moment. Before he moved away from her, Duo gave her a small kiss on the cheek.

Duo started leaving. "Well, gotta go. See ya!" He started running around the corner.

"Wait! What's your name?" The little girl shouted at him.

Duo shouted back at her, "My name's Duo." He hoped she heard him, but he was already around the corner by the time he said his name. `I hope I see her again sometime.'

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Shin sat at her desk, looking at her watch. She wondered when Quatre would come into the office. Suddenly, there was laughter coming from the hall. Shin recognized the voice of the blonde before he turned the corner. Shin stood up to greet her `boss'.

"Good morning, Mr. Winner. How are you this morning?" Shin asked before she notice the man that was standing next to Quatre.

"I'm very well this morning. I didn't even argue with any of my sisters and all of my friends are here."

"That's good, Mr. Winner." Shin said distractedly.

Quatre noticed his secretary and one of his closest friends lost in a moment together. `I'll just leave them alone.' Quatre thought as he walked to his office. `Besides, Duo needs someone in his life. He's been so lonely since he and Hilde broke up.'

Shin stared at the blue eyed man standing in front of her. "H-hello, Duo." She managed to squeak out.

"Hi. Reina was it?"

Shin nodded. Okay, so she never lied, but this was an exception for the sake of a mission. She felt herself blush slightly. She cursed her fare skin. Although she had been half Latin, her American side was the dominant trait in this case. Shin was getting a little nervous from the long silence.

"Uh…so…" Duo broke the silence, but was still a little nervous himself. "What I mean is…would you like to go to lunch with me today?"

"I'm sorry. I wish I could but I've got a lot of work to get done at home before I come back to work. I didn't get it done last night."

"Oh. Dinner then?"

Shin chuckled. "You don't give up, do you?"

"Nope. When I want something I usually get it."

"So, does that mean you want me then?"

"Only if you'll let me have you." Duo whispered into her ear.

Shin felt herself blush again.

Duo kissed Shin's cheek before he moved away from her. That movement was so familiar to be doing with a girl he hardly knew. Or did he know her. Duo thought for a moment but his train of thought was broken by the girl's answer.

"Dinner sounds like a great idea. We can get to know each other better."

"Great! Do you want me to pick you up here?"
"No. I'll give you my address. You can pick me up at my house."

"Cool. I'll come and get your address before I leave today."

"Okay." Shin smiled as Duo walked away.

`Wait! What am I thinking? I can't let him get to know me. I'm still on a mission. Damn it! Kirin is going to kill me. Way to go, Shin. Let your emotions get the best of you.'

Sure, Duo had stolen her heart when she was six, but it had been thirteen years since then and he didn't even know who she was. To him, she was probably just another cute girl to take out on a date and see if he liked her. And if he did like her, he would probably want to see her more and she couldn't do that. The only way she could see him again was to either sneak out or to botch the mission and be on the run forever. No, she couldn't fail this mission. A failed mission meant death and she wasn't ready to die. Plus, she didn't want to drag Kirin and Yume into this whole mess.

"Oh, well, I already made the date with him. I can't back out now." Shin sighed with frustration.

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Kirin sat at her computer, trying to track down the gundam pilot she wanted to get information on the most. Since the information that Shin hacked from the Winner's files was limited, she had to hunt down every last bit of info on Heero Yuy. The Japanese pilot didn't stay in one place for very long so as not to be found if someone was trying to track him. Kirin always seemed to get the last place he was before he was gone again. It never did take her very long to track down the Wing Zero pilot but he was good. Just like them, if he didn't want to be found, then he wouldn't be found. But Kirin was better than that; she would track Heero down and find him even if it killed her.

Thanks to Shin's and Yume's hacking skills, Kirin pretty much had the other pilots covered. All she had to worry about was Heero. Shin had taken the job to get info mostly on Quatre and Duo, but if she found anything about the other pilots, she would send that to Kirin as well. Yume had offered to get the info on Trowa and Wufei, and like Shin, if she found anything on any of the others, she would send it to Kirin.

"I've finally caught up with you, Heero Yuy, and you're not getting away this time."

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"Come in, Kinyoubi. This is Shido." Kirin waited a moment.

"Kinyoubi, this is Shido, come in." Kirin waited again.

"Shin, I know you're there. This is Kirin. Pick up, damn it!"

Shin came running out of her bedroom. "Sorry, Kirin. I'm getting ready."

"For what? You're done with work for the day, aren't you?"
"Yeah, but I've got a date."

"A date?! With who?"

"You'll never believe this but it's with Duo Maxwell."
"WHAT?!"

"Hey, not so loud. My walls aren't as sound proof as the ones back at base, you know."

"I don't care! You can't be going on a date. Especially with Duo Maxwell, of all people."

"And why not?"
"The mission for one thing."
"Don't you think I've thought about that already? I kind of just said yes to dinner before I realized what I was doing. Besides, if I didn't say yes, he would've just asked me out again tomorrow."

"And what about the fact that he just might want to see more of you?"

"I thought of that, too, but I haven't thought of what to do about that."
"I can't believe you. Of all the people in the world, Duo Maxwell."

"I'll understand if you don't want to talk to me anymore." Shin said, sadly.

Kirin paused for a moment. "Now why would I want to do a stupid thing like that? We're best friends and besides, we're a team. We need to be able to talk to each other in order to do our missions."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Shin said.

"Oh, by the way, great job on that data you got. It was flawless."
"Really?" Shin was cheering up a bit.

"Yeah. Thanks, I didn't have to do a bit of cleaning up on it again."

"Anytime. I just hope I can do that more often."
"Me, too."

Suddenly, a knock came at Shin's front door.

"Oh, I gotta go, Kirin. That's Duo. I'll talk to you at lunch tomorrow. If I can't make it, I'll leave you a message from my com-link."

"Okay. I guess all I can say in this situation is have a good time."

"I'll try. Hopefully I won't spill too much."
"You better not say anything to him about this."
"Relax, I was only kidding."

"You better be."

"I am, besides, he only knows me as Reina Archer, Quatre's new secretary. He has no idea who I really am.
Another knock came at the door.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow." Shin said.
"Okay, bye." Kirin closed the video-com down for the night.

Shin went to the door and opened it. Fortunately, to her surprise, Duo was actually in a very nice suit. Duo didn't wear his usual all black attire. Duo wore black slacks with a white dress shirt and black suit coat, but the only thing different from his usual black was the very dark midnight blue silk tie he wore. The tie really brought out his eyes. Shin couldn't help but stair at him in awe.

"Wow! You look great." Shin complemented.

"You don't look so bad yourself." Duo said with a sly grin on his face. He had been admiring the girl that stood in front of him at the door. Shin was in a somewhat short dress, mid-thigh. The color was perfect on her, light blue fabric with little darker blue flowers. The blue had brought out the green in Shin's eyes that Duo had never noticed before. Shin's hair was down and fell on her shoulders softly. Shin was even more beautiful with her hair down. The girl had always worn her hair up or mostly up at work so this was a big change for her.

Shin blushed. "Well, shall we go?"
"Of, course."

Duo walked Shin to his car and helped her in.

"Wow! Nice car."
"Thanks. I just got it last year."

Duo's car was a black Mustang convertible and since he was going on a date to a nice restaurant, he thought he'd leave the top up.

"So, where are we going, might I ask?"

"You'll see when we get there."

"Oh, why don't you just tell me?"

"Because it's a surprise."

"Oh fine. I suppose you want me to close my eyes, too."
"No, you don't have to unless you want to."

"No, I rather not. I might fall asleep." Shin giggled.

Duo glanced at her quizzically. "Oh, I fall asleep easily in cars, unless I'm driving. If I'm in the passenger seat or the back, I can fall asleep if I close my eyes for too long."

"Oh, I see." Duo stated.

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"I can't believe her. Going on a date with Duo Maxwell. If she blows the mission because of some silly little thing like the fact that she likes him, I'm going to kill her myself." Kirin said to no one.

Suddenly a beep was heard from her computer. Kirin walked over to the thing and brought her video-com back up.

"Yeah, Shido here."

"This is Okinawa."

"Hey! Do you want to know what Shin is up to?"

"Sure, if you're telling me about this must be important."

"Well, kind of. She's on a date."

"So what?"
"The only problem is, she's on a date with Duo Maxwell."

"What? She better not blow the mission."

"I already told her about that. She said he only knows her as Quatre Winner's secretary, Reina Archer."

"I hope she doesn't go and spill anything. After all, she has liked him since she saw him on TV that one time during the last war."

"Yeah, I know. I hope so, too. If she says anything to him, I'll kill her myself."
"Ooh, can I help?"
"Sure. Because if she reviles any of this to him, it's going to be all of our necks."

"Yeah, I don't like that thought one bit."

"Tell me about it."

"What did I call you for in the first place?"
"I don't know, I can't read your mind."
"I know that. Oh, yeah. I can't believe Shin actually found all the info we needed without making you do any clean ups on it."

"Yeah. I was extremely grateful and I thanked her for it."
"Okay, that's all I called for."

"All you called for was to tell me you couldn't believe Shin actually did her job?"
"Yep."
"Jeez, Yume. You could have sent me an e-mail or something."
"Well, if I did, I wouldn't have found out so soon that she was on a date with Duo Maxwell."
"True, but you still could have sent me an e-mail. Anyway, I've got to get off to bed. I'll probably contact you tomorrow to confirm when we're coming back to base."
"Gotcha, talk to you then."

"'Night."

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Duo walked Shin to her door.

"This was a great night, Duo. Thank you."

"No problem. You're probably the first girl in a long time that I've actually taken out to a nice restaurant. Not that I haven't taken a girl out to dinner or anything, it's just been a long time. I'm surprised I still knew what to do."

"Well, you were very much a gentleman."

"Thank you."

Shin smiled sweetly at the man in front of her. "Would you like to come in for a little while?"

Duo thought for a moment. He really wanted to get home and go to sleep, but there wasn't really any rush. He was in the presence of a very pretty girl after all. Since Duo hadn't been on a date since he and Hilde had broken up, he really needed a girlfriend.

Shin finally opened the door to her apartment and stepped inside, letting her date inside.

"Wow, this is a pretty nice place you got."
"Yeah, it's not much, but it's home." `For now.' Shin walked into the small kitchen. "Make yourself comfortable. Would you like something to drink?"

"Oh, no thanks, I'm fine."

"Okay." Shin took a coke out of the fridge and set it on the counter. She got an extra one just in case Duo changed his mind.

Shin walked back out into her living room and placed the two cokes on the coffee table in front of the couch.

"Where are you going?" Duo asked, watching the girl walk to her bedroom.

"I thought I'd take off my shoes and get into something a little more comfortable."

"Hey, that's not fair since I don't have anything more comfortable."

"Okay, I'll just take off my shoes and sit down. Sound fair to you?"
"Sure."

Shin went to her bedroom and took off her shoes. She went to the bathroom; she'd been dying to go since they left the restaurant. She didn't have to really go until they were already driving back to her apartment. Shin also went to her jewelry box without even knowing it and took out the cross from so long ago. `What am I doing? Why am I putting this on? He'll know who I am for sure if I put this on.'

"Oh, well. I like wearing it around the house anyway." Shin put on the sliver cross before stepping back out into the living room.

Duo didn't notice the cross right away, but when the girl sat down in front of him, he saw it.

"Wow, that's a nice cross. Can I take a look at it?" Duo asked.

"Sure." `Oh, man, if he sees the initials on the back, he'll know for sure.'

Duo took the cross as Shin gave it to him. He looked it over and thought it was just an ordinary cross. The American was about to give it back to her when he noticed something carved into the back. Duo turned the cross over and looked at the letters that were once carved by him.

Duo's face displayed a bit of shock. "Can I ask where you got this cross?"

"Oh, I got it when I was younger. I was six when a little boy on an L2 colony gave it to me. I can't really remember his name, although I really couldn't hear it when he told me anyway."

"Did that little boy have brown hair?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I think he wore it in a braid and he had eyes…just like yours…" The last came out in a whisper as Shin looked into Duo's eyes.

Duo stared into the deep violet and green orbs as he remember the same ones looking up at him on the streets of L2.

"How old was this little boy?" Duo asked a little breathlessly.

"Oh, I don't know. I think he was about a year or two older than myself and it was thirteen years ago." came Shin's almost breathless reply.

Every moment the two came closer and closer to each other. By the time Duo finally realized who the girl in front of him really was, the two of them were so close they were almost kissing.

"Reina?"

"Yeah?"

"I know who you are."

"You do?" `Oh great! He knows who I am. Does that mean he knows who I really work for?'

"Yeah. I was that little boy that gave you that cross, Reina. You were the little girl I bumped into and gave my only cross to. See? These are my initials."

"Yeah."

"I vowed then and there, when I gave you that cross that you were the girl I loved. I thought that if I gave you my cross that I could find you again one day and here you are. Who would have thought that we would meet this way, huh?"

"Yeah, it's rather ironic." Shin chuckled.

"I mean it, Reina. People might have told me that it was puppy love and that I would get over it, but I thought of you everyday and how I would find you again and declare my love for you once and for all. I loved you then and I love you still, Reina."

"I…" Shin sighed. "I love you, too, Duo. I loved you back, too, I think. Even though I was only six and people told me I didn't know what love was, I really think I loved you then, too."

Duo started to kiss Shin lightly on the lips when Shin objected.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Shin hesitated. "Duo, there's something I have to tell you." `Kirin is really going to kill me for this.'

"Yeah?"

Shin hesitated some more, she tried stalling for time. `What am I doing? I can't tell him who I am.'

"What is it, Reina?"

"Uh, never mind."

"Okay." Duo kissed her again. His hands wandered to the back of her dress and started to undo the zipper.

Shin stopped his actions. "Duo, we can't do this."

"Why not? We finally found each other after all this time."

"I know, but we can't do this. I'm not who I used to be."

"What are you talking about? We didn't even know each other back then. It was just love at first sight, so to speak."

"I'm not who you think I am, Duo."
"I don't care who you are. I love you and I don't want to lose you again."

Shin's heart started to pound in her chest. "I don't want to lose you, either, but I don't think I can do this right now. I'm sorry." Shin started towards her room. "You can crash here if you want. If you're here in the morning, that's fine."

Shin looked back at Duo. "I really am sorry, Duo and I do love you. You'll never lose me as long as you keep loving me."

Duo looked at Shin. "Thank you, Reina."

Shin smiled. "You're welcome."

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Shin woke to hear a beep coming from her living room.

"Oh, go away." She moaned.

The beep continued.

"All right, all right. I'm coming. Hold your horses." Shin got out of bed and put on her robe as she made her way to the living room. Shin sat down at the desk that the computer sat on. She turned on the monitor and clicked the mail button.

"Shin! Where have you been? I've been trying to reach you for about an hour now!"

"Jeez, Kirin, don't yell. I was sleeping, I didn't even hear anything. Besides, if you yell, you'll wake him up."

Kirin opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. After a moment of silence, she finally said something. "You were sleeping? Why were you sleeping? You know we have important things to do today. And who will I wake up?"

"Duo."
"Duo?… Duo's there? Are you crazy?"

"Maybe, you know me better than I know myself, remember."

"Don't remind me. It's scary how well I know you."

Shin just grinned at the silver hair girl.

"Oh, well. Just call me back when Duo's gone." Kirin said.

"Why can't we talk now?"
"Because I don't want him over hearing anything."

"Good point. But don't worry about it, he's sleeping. He sleeps about as deeply as I do."
"Now that I believe, but we can't risk it."

"Fine. Can we IM?"

"I don't see why not. But it's not as secure as our lines."

"We can make it that way. We're professionals, Kirin. We do this kind of stuff for a living."

"You're right, but I don't want to risk anything."

"Fine, I'll call you when he's gone. But I have to tell you something before we hang up."

"What?"
Shin was silent for a moment. "I came this close to tell him…everything."
"What?" Kirin said in a pissed off yet very calm voice.

"Now don't get mad. I trust him, Kirin. He's not like anyone I've ever met. Besides, he's the one."

"I don't care if he's the fucking Queen of England! If any of this gets out, we're screwed, got that!"

"Yes, I know what'll happen to us if this becomes public, but it won't because I didn't tell him."
"But you came close. What do you think would have happened if he found out and told someone?"
"Kirin, Duo's an ex-gundam pilot. He used to live on keeping secrets from the bad guys and the public."
"Yes, he's an EX-gundam pilot. Ex as in not any more. It's been, what, four or five years since they've been gundam pilots."

"Yes, but you never forget about the lessons learned or how to do the things you learn when you're a gundam pilot. Hell, I try to forget some of the things we've done, but I can't. I'm sure they can't either and you of all people should know how hard it is to forget things, Kirin. Besides, I've never forgotten the face of that boy from when I was six. And the cross he gave me, those are Duo's initials. He's the little boy, Kirin. Duo was that eight year old little boy from L2."

"Damn it… You had to tell me that didn't you? You know that I can't resist it when you say something about that. I can't help but want to help you with that."

"I'm sorry, Kirin. But it's true. He's the one, I finally found him. I just hope I don't loose him."

"Fine. But you know what this means don't you?" Kirin asked.

"Yes, I know. If I spill, mission: failed."
"That's right, a failed mission, Shin. And you know what that means for us?"
"Yes. He'll send them to kill us."
"That's only if you say something about the mission or anything to do with the organization and he finds out."

"Kirin, you know that if I did say something to Duo, that Lee would know. He has eyes and ears everywhere."
"Shit! Forgot about that little detail."

"How could you forget about that? He's your uncle for God's sake."
"Do not call him my uncle. Uncle is a term used for a family member and he is not family to me. You hear me?"

"Okay, sorry. I forget sometimes that you hate him."

"Yes, someone who has never hated family in her life."
"Hey, my parents died while I watched on, too, okay. And then I had my adopted father killed right in front of me, too."

Silence followed for a few moments as the two long time friends collected their composure.

"Anyway, I called to tell you about the mission, but it seems you'll have to call me later."

"Yeah."

"Don't worry about the time. I'll be waiting for your call."

"I'll call as soon as I'm able. It's Saturday, I don't have work."
"Okay. Shido out."

"Kinyoubi out."

Shin clicked off her video-com and headed towards the kitchen to make breakfast.

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Duo Maxwell woke up the next morning to the smell of someone cooking breakfast. The American looked around the apartment for a moment then remembered where he was and what had transpired the night before.

Shin walked into the living room from the kitchen.

"Hi." She said.

"Morning." Duo replied.

Shin smiled at Duo, who smiled back

"Sleep well?"

"Well…" Duo thought for a moment. "Yeah, actually, I did."

"Well, that couch is pretty comfortable. I've fallen asleep on it many times myself."

Well, she had only fallen asleep on it about once or twice since she had only been in the apartment for a few days.

"Hungry?"

"You bet."

Shin handed Duo a plate with food on it. "Here, I didn't even touch it yet. I've made enough so I'll just get some more." Shin smiled.

Duo took the plate graciously from the violet-eyed girl. "Thanks." He said with a mouth full of eggs.

"No problem."

Shin came back into view. "Oh, I already took a shower. If you want you can take one."

"Nah, I think I'll wait until I get back to my place."

"Okay."

Duo finished his food. "Well, thanks for letting me crash and for the food. I should be going now."

"Really? Sure you don't want to stay for a little while?"

"Yeah, I gotta get some stuff done."

"Okay."
Duo headed towards the door with Shin behind him.

"Well, I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, but not if I see you first." Shin smiled.

"Bye."

"Bye." Shin leaned up to kiss the American pilot quickly on the lips.

Duo kissed the girl back and just didn't want to let her go but had to.

"Bye."

"Bye."
Shin closed the door after Duo left. Her heart was pounding so hard she thought it would burst.

"God! What am I doing?"

Shin went over to her computer, turned on her video-com, and called Kirin back.

"Shido."

TBC…