Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ some reunion ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

//A reunion?// Duo stared horrified at the invitation in his hand. A reunion. Wow. Once again he read the contents of the invitation. The reunion was to be held at the Winner Estate in three weeks. The list of those hoped to be attending included all five of the Gundam Pilots, Vice Foreign Minister Relena Darlian, Milliardo Peacecraft, as well as many persons influential in the bringing of peace.

It had been nearly five years since the Marimeia incident, and nearly as long since Duo had seen any of his former comrades. And now Quatre had decided to throw a little reunion to celebrate five years of peace. //How the hell am I supposed to get out of this one?// Duo wondered as he walked back into his L2 apartment and away from the offending mail box. He wasn't quite sure if he could handle this. So many things had changed in him in the past five years. He didn't even feel like the same person. Here on L2, he had finally set up a good life for himself. He was working with Hilde at their very own parts shop, he owned an orange cat named Spike, and he wrote comic books sold locally in his free time. What would he have in common with any of those people?

Yes, he had kept tabs with the other five pilots in his own way at first; he had had a dinner date with Quatre once a month, and Quatre always filled him in as to the whereabouts of the other pilots. Quatre was head of his estate and wrote sappy romance novels on the side, Trowa was still actively involved in the circus, and visited Quatre as often as it would allow, and Wufei had joined the Preventers soon after the Marimeia incident. And Heero, well... he didn't really know where Heero was. He just disappeared. And that is what had hurt Duo the most--Heero just leaving without so much as a goodbye. He knew that they hadn't always gotten along, but they had gained eachother's respect, and become friends. Or so Duo had thought.

The last he had heard of Heero was a little over two years ago, when meeting with Quatre, the blonde had informed him that Heero was apparently living with Relena. That was when Duo had begun to cancel his dinner dates with Quatre. That was when he began to loose track of all of his comrades.

It's not that he didn't want to stay in touch, but the only person who had even bothered to retain their connection with him was Quatre. His own "best friend" had mysteriously vanished without even so much as a goodbye. And it wasn't that he disapproved of Heero's relationship with Relena--all he wanted was for Heero to be happy, and if the Queen of the World did that, then who was he to complain? But was it too much to ask for the Perfect Soldier to tell him? All those months stationed together, fighting Oz and the demons within, facing nightmares, and Heero couldn't even tell Duo when he moved in with a girl? It just seemed absurd.

//Sheesh! I practically lived with the guy, not to mention saved his life, put up with his crazy suicidal tendencies, and this is the thanks I get?! Not even a phone call!// It's not like he could just call Heero up to chat either. Heero had just vanished, leaving Duo with no way to contact him. That immediately left Heero with all of the responsibilities, right? The ball was in his court. That's what Duo had thought.

Just then the phone rang, bringing Duo out of his musings. Stratigically avoiding the array of empty pizza boxes and soda cans, he made his way to the phone.

"Maxwell House. How can I help you?"

"Duo!!"

"Quatre!?! How's it going? It's been a while," Duo scratched his head. "What's this with a reunion?" Duo immediately got to the point.

"Yeah. Duo, that's why I called..." Quatre's voice trailed off.

"What about it?" He hated it when Quatre got that tone of voice. It almost always meant trouble.

"Oh! Well, you ARE going, aren't you?"

"Quatre, you know that's not my scene." He stated flatly.

"But Duo!!!!" Quatre's voice whined through the phone. "You HAVE to come!!!!! Everybody else will be there, and I really miss you, and I never see you anymore, and wouldn't it be great to get us all back together for a while, and-"

"Stop. Stop! You *know* I can't say no to you when you use that tone of voice!!! But I *really* don't want to go!!!!" It was Duo's turn to whine.

"Please, Duo? For me?"

He could almost see Quatre's chibi face, eyes all watery....

"...Fine."

"Really?!!"

"Yes! I'll go. Are you happy now?" All these months of confinement wasted, thanks to Quatre's chibi self.

"Oh, I'm so happy, Duo! I can't wait to see you there! I'll mail you shuttle ticket, and pick you up at the port, okey?"

"Okey. Hey, wait! Is that ALL you called for?!" Duo asked.

"Well, um... yes. It's just that I wanted you to come so badly, and I knew that if I didn't call, you'd probably just throw the invitation away," he explained.

"Yeah, you're probably right, I suppose," Duo sighed, sitting in the kitchen chair.

"I know I'm right! So, pick you up at the port?"

"Yep. See you there."

"Oh, and Duo?" Quatre suddenly asked. "Maybe you could bring an extra few pairs of clothes and stay with me for a few days?"

"Sure Quatre. See you later."

"Bye!"

Duo sunk lower into the chair, staring dejectedly at the phone in his hands. //Well Duo, welcome back to the land of the living.//

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"Hey, Duo!! Guess what I just got in the mail?" Hilde sang as she met her partner on her way to work the next morning.

"Hmmm. Don't know. Maybe it's a check for a million dollars?" Duo responded, falling into step beside her. The parts shop was only three blocks down, and walking together to open it in the mornings had become their daily ritual.

"Yeah, right," she rolled her eyes. "No, it's an invitation for the reunion!!! You're going, right?"

Duo sighed. "Yes, I'm going, thanks to Quatre."

"Thanks to Quatre?! You KNOW that if you didn't show up, I'd personally come back here and drag you to it, right?"

"Yeah, I know," he replied. "It's just that-- I don't know if I fit in anymore. I feel so different."

"You're still the same old Duo to me."

"Thanks, Hilde. I just--I don't know. I guess I'm just nervous, that's all. What if they don't like me anymore?"

"You mean what if *he* doesn't like you anymore?" she gently prodded.

Duo stopped in his tracks. "Yes, and no. He really freakin' hurt me, Hilde. You know?"

"I know, Duo," she sighed, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"He was supposed to be my friend! I told him everything! About Solo, the Maxwell Church, EVERYTHING!! And then he just left without so much as a goodbye. Sheesh! Shows how valuable I was to him."

"Duo, I know, but don't you think that if you see him at the reunion and talk to him about it, it might solve things?" Hilde asked.

Duo sat down on the sidewalk, holding his head in between his hands. "You know, Hilde, it's not really that. I've been doing my best to get over it. It's always been the same problem for so long--I'm trying so hard to get over it. I think it's working. I think..." What was meant to be a firm statement came out like more of a question.

"Then what is it?"

"I don't know. It's just everything. Seeing all of them, him, EVERYTHING!!! I'm just too overwhelmed, I guess."

Hilde gave him a gentle smile as she pulled him to his feet. "Why don't you take this morning off. Go buy yourself a new outfit or two? It always makes me feel better."

"Ah, Hilde, you know I can't just leave you there--"

"Yes you can! I'll be fine. And besides, remember when Brian dumped me? You did the same thing."

"Are you sure?" Duo asked. Secretly, he needed the time to think. And he could use a few extra outfits too.

"I'm sure, Duo. You just go to the mall, order an iced vanilla americano with whipped cream, and shop to your heart's delight. And I guarantee you that you'll feel better by the time you come back to work at three. Okey?" Hilde instructed.

"Okey. Thanks, Hilde," Duo said as he hugged the girl appreciatively and ran down the block.

//That boy// Hilde thought as she watched his braid bouncing behind him. //Oh, Duo. I hope that you can make it through this.//

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//Hilde was right// Duo absentmindedly thought as he hauled his bags full of new clothes inside his bedroom. His mini vacation had really helped sort things out. //There's nothing I can do about the past. What's done is done. All I can do is let it go.// And strangely enough, it had worked. Well, it didn't work miracles; it would still be awkward at the reunion, but at least he didn't have that horrible feeling of dread looming over his head. He could face the ex-pilots, and he could forgive Heero.

//Now to sort through the clothes.// Duo sat on his bed and chose which outfits he would bring to Quatre's, and which ones he would hang up in his closet. He ended up packing his customary preist's outfit, a few new pairs of dark jeans, a couple new shirts, and of course, underwear and socks. The rest ended up in a pile on the floor in front of his closet. //Close enough.//

Now all he had to do was wait for Quatre's ticket to arrive, and show up, full of smiles. //It's a piece of cake// Duo thought to himself with new-found confidence. And with that, he began to work on his latest edition of Shinigami, scheduled to be up on the shelves in six weeks.

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As the shuttle landed in the port, Duo felt his heart leap into his throat. All he wanted to do at that moment was to catch the earliest flight back to L2. Where it was safe. //If only Hilde was here!// But, unfortunately, Hilde couldn't come until tomorrow, the night of the ball Quatre had planned. Quatre had only invited the five ex-pilots to stay a night earlier.

As he got off the shuttle, he found Quatre and Rashid, ready with his baggage.

"Hey, Quat! How's it been?" He asked as Quatre ran up and glomped him.

"Oh, Duo! I'm so glad you're here!!" the blonde boy said, pulling back. "Let's go home. Everyone should be arriving soon."

"By everyone, do you mean Trowa?" Duo asked. Quatre turned an interesting shade of pink.

"Duo! You promised you wouldn't tease me when I told you!" He pouted.

"Sorry! Sorry. It won't happen again. I promise." Duo said with his fingers behind his back.

And with that, he let Quatre lead him to the waiting vehicle.