"What is taking her so long?" Duo wondered. He looked at his watch and saw that Sophie had been in the shower for nearly an hour! He was just about to get up when he heard the water stop running. "Finally," He muttered. He needed a shower as well, and Sophie probably just used up all the hot water.
In another minute, Sophie came out wearing the clothes he had given her.
He laughed at her appearance. The khaki shorts were a bit loose, but not too loose, but the shirt was huge on her and made her seem tiny. It was a navy blue tee shirt, and it came down to just above her knees. The shorts came to just past them. She was pulling at the shirt, as if the fabric against her midriff bugged her. It probably did; after all, she had most likely been wearing those tiny shirts for most of her life. As in, the last ten years.
Finally, Sophie tied the shirt in a knot so it stayed above her stomach and smiled. She seemed comfortable enough, although the shorts did hang low around her hips. Her knee-length blonde hair was wet and tangled, but nothing a comb couldn’t take care of. And with all the dirt and dry blood washed off her, she was actually very pretty.
"Those shorts too big?" He asked.
She nodded, "A little, but they’re a lot cleaner than my skins."
"They should be." Duo laughed. "Come here," He said.
"Hun? Why?" Sophie asked as she stepped towards him.
"We need to do something with your hair."
"OK…" She sat down on the couch next to him and Duo examined the task before of him. First thing was first. He jumped up and ran to his bathroom, the floor was covered in water. Duo sighed, but decided her would clean it up later. He grabbed a blow dryer and a comb from the cupboards, as well as some hair elastics and ran back.
"Turn around," He instructed. Sophie did as she was told, and let Duo blow-dry her hair.
When dry, her hair was the color of caramel, or burnt gold. It was still very unhealthy from the constant exposure to the salt water, but was nice all the same. To keep it from getting tangled Duo braided it all the way down. It was definitely his favorite hairstyle. He wasn’t one to sit around and play with someone else’s hair. A braid was very practical. It kept the hair out of your face and also kept it from getting tangled. Not to mention it looked pretty cool.
"There," He said smiling, "You can turn around now if you want."
Sophie turned around slowly and smiled at him weakly. "Thanks, Duo." She said. He innocent aqua-green eyes stared right into his soul. Duo felt his breath being caught in his throat. She had a kind of exotic, dangerous beauty, like a wild animal. He had met girls who were cute before, or elegant, or colorful, but never someone who looked so…gorgeous!
Her wispy dirty blond hair framed her face and fanned out around her shoulders. Her skin was so tanned he’d almost think she was half-black. Her eyes stood out and flickered with her maintained innocence and naïveté. Her muscles rippled under her skin with some unknown strength, but she managed to somehow remain strangely thin. She reminded Duo of a wild animal who refused to be tamed.
"Wow," He muttered.
"What?" Sophie asked with unnecessary alarm.
"Nothing, it’s just that you’re so…pretty."
"Really?" She asked. Color rushed to her cheeks.
Duo grinned, "Yup, and Duo Maxwell never tells a lie! Remember?"
"Yeah, you said that to me when I woke up."
"Yes I did, it’s my motto!"
"What’s a motto?"
"It’s like a saying that describes a person. Its what I live by. I may run and hide but I’ll never tell a lie! That’s me in a nutshell!"
Sophie laughed, a beautiful sound that sounded as smooth as water running over rocks, or maybe soft bells ringing. Duo looked outside and saw that it was dark out. He also noticed Sophie yawn.
"Now you’re tired," He grinned. "You should get some rest and tomorrow we’ll get you some clothes and try to find where you came from."
Sophie smiled thankfully at him. "Thanks a lot." She said. She got up and went back over to the bed, and she fell asleep almost instantly. Once she was asleep, Duo went and cleaned up his bathroom and then showered as well.
Then he pulled out and extra blanket and fell asleep on the couch.
The next morning, Sophie woke first, and found an interesting way of waking up Duo. She sat on him!
Duo woke with a start and sat up, which sent Sophie flying to the ground with a loud ‘thud’.
"Whoa! You OK, Sophie?" Duo asked with unnecessary concern.
But Sophie was laughing. "It woke you up!" She giggled.
Duo mumbled something under his breath and rolled off the couch. "I guess you want breakfast."
"Yeah!" She said excitedly. Duo nodded and went into the kitchen to make breakfast.
"Are we going to get me some clothes today Duo?" Sophie asked as she watched Duo start breakfast.
Duo nodded, "Yeah, sure." She really was like a little kid. She immediately attached herself to him, like a kid would, expecting him to take care of her.
"But before we go anywhere, there are a few things that you should know."
"Like what?"
So Duo gave Sophie a quick lesson on how to behave in public while they ate breakfast. He told her that you never swore at anyone in a nice suit. You had to be polite, at least a little polite, to people walking around, and not to stare at people. Sophie accepted most of this, but seem confused when he told her she had to wear shoes.
"Why?" She asked.
"Because it’s unsanitary."
"What does that mean?"
"It means that the floors are very dirty and there is always stuff like glass that could hurt your feet lying around."
"Why would the floors be dirty?"
"Because people’s shoes drag in dirt and mud and stuff."
"But if no one wore shoes than they wouldn’t track in dirt."
Duo groaned. "Your logic confuses me."
"Hun?"
"Never mind…"
After lunch, Duo ran out and got Sophie some sandals, flip flops to be exact, so they could go into the mall and get her some proper clothes. She seemed to find a lot of things wrong with wearing shoes, but eventually Duo convinced her to keep them on.
They were just about to leave when there was a knock on the door.
"I wonder who that could be," Duo murmured as he went to open it. The second he did, he saw the last person he expected to see walk in without being invited.
"H-Hilde?" Duo stuttered. Hilde turned to face him, she was crying, just like when she broke up with him. "Oh Duo!" She gasped. She threw herself into his arms and pressed her lips against his. Duo stumbled back, but didn’t return her kiss. Hilde didn’t seem to notice. He pulled her away and looked into her eyes.
"What’s wrong with you?" He asked bitterly, remembering how she had betrayed him.
"Duo! I’ve missed you so much! I-I made a huge mistake in letting you go."
"So now you’ve come back here to see if I’ll take you back?" Duo growled. "Well forget it! You had your chance, its over!"
Hilde looked shocked and hurt. She tried to find some reason in his eyes. "But why?" She whimpered. That was when she noticed Sophie standing behind them. Her face hardened.
"Oh, I see," She snarled. She pushed past Duo and walked up to Sophie. "Looks like I’m not the only one who’s found someone else. I’ve haven’t even been gone for two days and you’ve already found yourself some little slut!"
"Hilde," Duo warned.
"How long have you been around?" Hilde snapped at Sophie. "Did your pimp set you up or did Duo find you himself?"
"I-I don’t know what you mean." Sophie said shakily.
"Oh, not only is she a slut, she’s stupid too!"
"I’m not stupid!" Sophie insisted.
"Hilde get out!" Duo roared. He grabbed her arm and shoved her towards the door.
"Duo!" Hilde seemed very surprised. "You would actually have her than me? The one you love?"
"The one I used to love." Duo corrected her. "Get out, now."
"Fine," Hilde sucked up her shock and her hurt. She turned on her heel and stormed out of the door.
"You OK?" Duo asked Sophie as soon as Hilde had left.
"Who was that?" Sophie asked shakily as she sat on the couch.
"Just someone I used to know." Duo answered.
"She was mean…"
"I know," Duo sighed. "She’s mean to me too."
After the encounter with Hilde, they got into Duo’s car and drove off to the mall. Sophie seemed to have forgotten Hilde, and was amazed at how fast they were going, and hung her head out the window for most of the time. She had let her hair out of the braid, and her hair framed her face with extreme volume. It seemed to think it was a sin to stay flat. Her hair looked incredibly good, considering it hadn’t seen shampoo in ten years before last night. Now her hair resembled that of a lion’s mane, flying around her face in every direction except up, adding to her wild, exotic beauty. It looked even better than when it was braided.
When they entered the mall, Sophie stopped and stared in awe at all the people rushing around in every direction. It was as if each person was on his or her own secret mission. And they all looked so different! Sophie tried to guess what each person was like by looking at them. Duo could see that she could barely contain her excitement.
Duo took her straight to some clothing stores so she could find proper clothes. As they walked Duo was aware that every guy even remotely close to their age was staring at Sophie. The fact that she was dressed so revealing and was completely unaware of how hot she was only added to her allure. But Duo knew that since Sophie was with him, no one would approach.
"Come on Sophie!" Duo called her away from the fish tank she was inspecting and into a clothing store. "Find something you like." He said.
So Sophie, with Duo’s help, shopped through the clothing items, picking things that were short and baggy. She found a few cropped off tee shirts, and a black skirt that came to just above her knees. Duo convinced her to get some baggy jeans, which she actually liked, and some khaki shorts that like the ones she was already wearing, but these ones actually fit her. Then they went and got shoes for her, but she would only wear sandals. The only thing Duo refused to buy her was underwear. No way was even getting close to a lingerie store. Which was fine, since Sophie would probably refuse to wear most of it. He would ask Relena or someone to take her shopping for things like that. All Sophie needed right now were the necessities.
After the clothes were finished with, Duo got her a hairbrush as well. Then they went and Duo showed Sophie the bathroom where she could change.
She changed into her khaki shorts and a tube top that was decorated with a purple and pink sunset with palm trees silhouetted against it. It was a wonder that even the clothes she chose made her seem wild. She said this top reminded her of how her island looked at night. She also put on some sporty, blue and black sandals with Velcro straps.
From there, they explored a bit and window-shopped. When they went onto the top level they stopped for coffee, or in Sophie’s case, hot chocolate, and cinnamon buns.
They stopped when they got to the pet shop Sophie went in with a look in her eye that reminded Duo of a child on Christmas morning.
"Aw, Duo look! They’re so cute!" She whistled at a parrot, which cocked its head to the side and whistled back. Sophie laughed and moved on. "Hey Duo! Look! They had these on the island!" She pointed to some big spiders. Duo took a look and shivered. He hated spiders! Sophie kept going until she stopped at a cage in the back where four Husky puppies were playing.
One of them saw Sophie and bounded over to her. Sophie stuck her fingers in the cage and the puppy licked them happily. Sophie giggled and rubbed it behind its ears.
"You like those?" Duo asked, coming up behind her.
Sophie nodded and looked at the little puppy.
"You want him?" Duo asked, nodding at he little puppy. It was mostly white with just black spots over its eyes and on its feet and tail.
Sophie nodded again, not really catching on to what he was saying. She thought he was merely curious.
"Then I’ll get him for you." Duo said with a smirk.
Sophie turned around and gazed at him with wide-eyed wonder. "You mean it?" She gasped.
Duo nodded again and smirked.
"Yay!" She jumped up and threw her arms around Duo’s neck. Duo laughed and pulled her away from him to get an employee from the pet shop. Ten minutes later, Duo and Sophie were walking towards the exit of the mall. Duo had all the packages, which included what they would need for the dog, and Sophie had the cardboard box with the little puppy inside.
"Why can’t we let him out?" Sophie asked as she frowned at the box. The puppy was whining and scratching the sides. "He doesn’t like it in there." "Because, pets aren’t allowed in the mall."
"Why not?"
"Because they might pee on the floor. And nobody wants to accidentally step in it."
"But if everyone is wearing shoes anyway, what’s the problem?"
Duo only stared at her and then started laughing. "Come one," He said, "Let’s go. We can let him out in the car."
"Ok," Sophie nodded and hurried towards the doors where they had come in.
When they got in the car, Sophie ripped open the box and the black and white Husky jumped out and licked her face. Sophie giggled and patted its head while tossing the box into the back seat.
"So, what re you gonna name him?" Duo asked.
"Name him? I hadn’t thought about that." She paused as she thought about a nice name for the dog.
"Nano," She announced. "His name is Nano."
"Nano? Why Nano?"
"I think I had a cat named Nano, once." She admitted.
Duo shrugged, "Nano it is. Actually, I kinda like it."
Duo juggled the packages while he tried to open the door to his house. Finally, Sophie had to step in and get it for him. "Thanks Sophie," Duo muttered as he went in.
"No problem," Sophie smiled. She followed him inside, Nano running in behind them. Duo dropped the packages on his bed and watched Nano bolt around the house. Sophie laughed as she watched him run around, and attempted to catch him without luck. Duo laughed as well, at the sight of Sophie fumbling around, trying to catch the hyperactive puppy.
Duo walked over to the phone that was sitting on the ledge of the little window that looked into his kitchen from the dining room. He saw that there was a message waiting for him. He punched the button and Heero’s face popped up on the VidFone screen. Sophie stopped chasing long enough to see who it was.
"Who’s that?" She asked as she stepped up behind him.
Duo didn’t answer her because he was watching Heero’s face on the screen.
"Hn, Duo." Heero’s message said. "Where the heck did you go? This isn’t a social call so don’t get excited. Relena made me call to tell you about the Preventor ball coming up next week. You should get an invitation but there were some problems. If you don’t get it in three days, call someone other than me to find out what’s going on."
At that point Relena came up behind him and gave Heero a crooked grin. "Don’t be so blunt, Heero." She said. She brought her face up to the screen. "Hi Duo!" She said cheerily. "How are things? We hope you make it to the ball. If you don’t wanna come though, we’ll understand. I heard what happened with Hilde. I’m very sorry. I thought you guys were perfect for each other…" Heero rolled his eyes at her.
"Relena, I think that’s the last thing he wants to hear."
Heero was wrong, for once. He didn’t care anymore. He had Sophie to keep his mind off Hilde. Although, he couldn’t just forget the pain she had caused him.
"I guess you’re right Heero." Relena sighed. "But anyway, Duo. Hope you make it, its next Tuesday, but you know that, right? Be there at seven sharp! As a top Preventor, it’s suggested that you at least make an appearance. And bring a friend if you want!" She winked and then the connection was caught.
"Hun," Duo chuckled. Relena could be kind of strange at times. And what was Heero doing in Relena’s room? He knew it was Relena’s room because of the bed with pink sheets behind them. He let a mischievous grin creep across his face. He would have to ask later. Or rather, tease Heero about it when he saw them at the Ball.
"Hey Sophie?" He asked, turning around.
"Yeah?"
"You ever been to a Ball before?"
