For the next few days, Sophie spent her time either with Vilas or her Grandfather, preparing for the ball.
Her Grandfather had people come in and they cut her hair to just past her shoulders, (because she preferred it long) and straightened it as well. They went shopping for a new wardrobe for her, and Sophie longer for her old clothes that she had gotten with Duo. The bought her shoes and shirts and suits and all sorts of things. They gave her a countless amount of dresses and almost no pants or shorts, and absolutely nothing that showed her midriff.
She hoped Duo would bring her old clothes with him when he came to the ball.
The party was less than a week away now, and Duo only paid Sophie one more visit before it. But Sophie had been out, shopping for the gown she would wear.
Sophie cursed shopping because it kept her from seeing her best friend in the entire world. She hardly even had time for Nano anymore since her Grandfather insisted on giving her lessons on manners and etiquette.
By the time it was finally the night of the ball, Sophie was a completely different person…
Duo spent the next two weeks before the ball thinking about Sophie. Without her his house was strangely quiet and unexciting. He borrowed a black tux from Heero, since he only had his white one, and this was, apparently, a black tie event.
He packed up Sophie’s things grudgingly, preparing to bring them to her. He knew she would never be able to stand the clothes those rich people would want her to wear.
He had tried once already to bring her her things, but she had been out shopping with her Grandfather. Jones the Butler had told him that briskly and then rudely shooed him away.
It was obvious to Duo that the Parish family wanted him out of Sophie’s life so she could get on with her life the way it was supposed to be.
They were only inviting him to the ball as a formality. They didn’t want him to come, and they didn’t believe he had saved Sophie. Only that he had become an intrusion into her new life. He would have to use this ball to say his final farewells to the girl he had come to know. It wasn’t fair of him to intrude on her new life, no matter how much he wanted to stay a part of it.
When the night of the ball came, Duo slowly changed for the party, and made sure his hair was freshly washed, his shoes nicely shined.
He rented a Limousine so he could arrive in style, and did everything he could to look his best, for Sophie.
Finally, when the Limo arrived, he took one last look in the mirror and went on his way to say goodbye to Sophie…forever.
The party was filled with important people and businessmen from around the globe and colonies. Some of them Duo recognized, some of them he did not. He was half surprised that Quatre was nowhere in the crowd. Fredrick Parish probably knew the young owner of the Winner Corporation, after all, and he was very powerful and respected.
He entered the grand ballroom in the Parish him and instantly began searching for the guest of honor. She was nowhere to be seen. She would probably be making some sort of grand entrance with her Grandfather later on.
Duo instead, tried to mingle with some of the other guests, but he found them boring and stiff. ‘Just like these rich people’, Duo sneered.
Some of the guests at the party even ignored and avoided him, which wasn’t surprising. As he entered, he even heard one woman say, "Look at that hooligan with the long hair! What is he doing here? He doesn’t belong!"
And her friend had replied, "Yes, what a punk! Who does he think he is?"
After hearing that, Duo had grinned and made a point to approach the two women and started up a conversation, trying his best to sound formal.
The two were shocked and surprised when he started to talk to them, and, Duo though with a tinge of amusement, utterly appalled.
It was an hour before a man walked up to the stage area where the orchestra was, and tapped the microphone to get everyone’s attention. Duo shoved an hors d’oeuvre into his mouth as the man started to speak.
Ladies and gentlemen," He said "It is my pleasure to announce the guest of honor for this evening. The long lost daughter that has returned to us after so many years. Ladies and Gentlemen, Miss Sophia Parish.
Duo looked up with the other guests to the tall, wide staircase behind the man. He was in mi-chew when his mouth dropped open in shock. They must have made some mistake! The young woman who was now descending the steps could not possibly be Sophie, could she?
Duo forced himself to swallow and washed down the food with a gulp of wine.
He watched Sophie as she reached the bottom of the steps, tripping on the last one, just a little.
Yep, Duo grinned, that was Sophie. Damn! She looked hotter every time he saw her.
Sophie he her hair cut and straightened, so it was no longer as frizzy and wild, and it had been piled elegantly on top of her head. A few strands of hair were let loose to frame her face, and a diamond tiara adorned her head.
She was wearing a floor length scarlet gown the complimented her sandy brown hair. It was an off-the-shoulder gown that showed off her shapely neck and smooth shoulders. It clung to every full-figured curve of her body down to her hips, but then started to flow out gradually so it bunched up in waves around her ankles.
On her feet were scarlet platform sandals that wrapped around her ankles. She was wearing diamond earrings and a diamond necklace with half-circle loops and a big tear-shaped charm in the middle (Think like Relena’s Queen-of-the-World necklace. Can’t stand her, but I LOVE that necklace!)
She looked like a Princess as she flashed her perfect smile at the people who greeted her enthusiastically. But still, no amount of pampering and elegant clothes could take away that wild, exotic look to which Duo had originally been drawn.
Duo gulped and started to move towards her, but stopped suddenly, only yards away when a dark haired man, only a little older than Sophie, latched onto her arm and started making introductions.
Sophie made no move to push the man away, but she did look extremely uncomfortable. Duo stood aside as she greeted the guests and then was pulled out onto the dance floor by the dark-haired young man.
He followed at a distance, but he refused to get in her way. After a few dances, Sophie got off the dance floor. Duo heard her say something about needing a drink, and he followed her to the refreshment table.
"Well, well, Sophie. I see you’re having a good time." He said.
Sophie spun around to face him, and her eyes lit up.
"Duo!" She cried. She launched herself into his arms, causing a few startled looks from the people nearby.
Neither Duo nor Sophie cared in the least that they were being stared at. "I’ve been looking for you!"
"I was looking for you, too." Her replied.
"Really?"
"Yeah, but you looked like you were having fun, so I waited. You look…really beautiful tonight, Sophie. Like a Princess."
"Yeah?" Sophie asked shyly. "You think so?"
"I know so." Duo replied with an impish grin. "So how about it Princess. Will you dance with me?"
Sophie smiled again and accepted his hand.
"My Grandfather gave me some more dancing lessons." She said as Duo led her onto the dance floor.
"I’m really good now, so I won’t step on your toes."
"Don’t worry about my toes," Duo laughed, "I have more."
Sophie giggled and took his hand and they started to dance. Sophie was a natural on her feet; Duo knew that since the first time he ever danced with her during his lessons.
Soon, the entire company had parted to watch them dance n their own.
"Duo?" Sophie asked nervously. "Why did they all stop?"
"Because you’re so beautiful. They want to watch you dance." Duo whispered. "So why don’t we give them a show to remember?"
"Hun?" Sophie asked. But then Duo suddenly twirled her out and started Duo faster, swing moves. The orchestra caught on and played fasted music, and Sophie and Duo danced faster and faster, doing spins and twists and even a flip.
The audience gasped with shock as well as delight at the two young people. Duo caught a glimpse at Sophie’s Grandfather and the dark-haired man. They both looked disapproving.
The couple tired quickly, and the orchestra started playing slower music again. The other couples started to join in again, and that gave Duo and Sophie time to talk.
"Guess this will be our last dance." Duo sighed.
"What do you mean?" Sophie asked, "There will be lots of other balls. Grandfather has a party at least once every month, or at least, that’s what Vilas said. We could…"
"Who is Vilas?" Duo cut her off.
"Oh, that’s him over there." Sophie pointed to the dark-haired man she had been dancing with earlier. Duo looked over and glared at him. He didn’t like the way Vilas was inspecting Sophie.
"You were dancing with him earlier." Duo stated.
"Yeah, he’s really nice, Duo. But…"
"But what?" Duo asked urgently. Was this Vilas guy being a little too nice to Sophie?
"But…but he’s not you Duo. I dunno. He just seems, a little creepy sometimes.
"Creepy? How?"
"I dunno, he just, he looks at me really hard you know? And he’s always watching me, no matter what I do…"
Duo’s face darkened at the thought of this creep constantly checking out Sophie. Maybe he should have a talk with him…
"So what did you mean when you said this will be our last dance?" Sophie cut into his thoughts.
"I came here to say goodbye, Sophie…"
"What…?"
"I can’t stay in your life and ruin it for you, it wouldn’t be fair of me. You have a family now, and I’ll just give you a bad reputation with them. Nobody wants their Granddaughter hanging out with someone like me."
"I don’t care what they think!" Sophie cried. A few people turned to look at them.
"Sophie, keep it down," Duo said calmly. "I’m just telling you the truth. They don’t want me around you anymore. I’m not part of this crowd, I’d go nuts here."
"I’d go nuts without you!" Sophie insisted. "Please Duo," She begged, "I don’t want you to leave me…" She started to cry, and her mascara started to run.
"Hey, don’t worry about it Sophie. Here, I brought your stuff with me. It’s in the Limo. You want to come with me to get it. We can talk outside…"
Sophie sniffled and nodded, "OK,"
Duo was beginning to regret telling her he would have to stop visiting her. Especially at the party where she could make a big scene. It would have been easier to jus stop trying to see her, or eventually started cutting down on visits so she forgot about him. But he couldn’t, he couldn’t betray her by just disappearing, and he couldn’t torture himself by still seeing her every so often, knowing that one day the visits to Parish Manor would stop.
It was at that moment, as he comforted the weeping Princess, that he realized how much he needed her. He couldn’t just leave her like that. He needed her, even more than he had needed Hilde. He had felt for Hilde, maybe he even loved her at one point. But it was different from what he felt for Sophie. If she left his life the way Hilde had, he would die. He would wither away and just…die. That was all there was to it. And it was in that fleeting moment, that he realized he was hopelessly, desperately and incredibly in love with Sophie.
He nearly stumbled and fell with the revelation, but he stopped himself and took Hilde to the Limo, that was waiting. The driver was talking with some of the others in the parking lot.
"Leaving, already?" The driver asked.
"No, just getting the stuff from the trunk. Could you open it please?" Duo replied to the young man.
The driver nodded and opened the trunk or them. "You need help with any of that?" He asked.
"No, I’ve got it." Duo replied.
The driver shrugged and rejoined the others.
Duo picked up the single bag with Sophie’s possessions and silently started walking for the house again.
"Are you still upset?" He asked. They stopped on the veranda and walked around to the side of the building where it was more private. They had an exquisite view of the gardens and Sophie sighed as she leaned over the rail and studies a few tiny yellow flowers underneath them.
"I don’t want you to go, Duo." She said shakily. "You’re the only friend I’ve got in the world."
"Don’t be silly. You have lots of friends. Everyone on that ballroom is your friend. They all love you, and they are very happy that you are back."
"They only like me because of who I am." Sophie snorted. "It’s so…weird with these people. They’re so different from what I’m used to. And there are so many rules! They even have rules for what fork you use for salad and who eats first. There are rules for absolutely everything!"
Duo chuckled at this. "Yeah, I find that strange about these rich people. They like to make good impressions in front of people…"
"But it’s not just in front of people. It’s with just me and Grandpa and Vilas too!"
Duo’s face darkened when he thought of Vilas.
"Does he spend a lot of time with you two" duo asked.
"Vilas? Yes, he’s been staying with us since I got here."
"Listen Sophie," Duo turned to her. "If anything ever happens, you know you can call me, any time, and I’ll come over right away. Even if our family doesn’t like me…"
"But they do like you Duo! Why wouldn’t they? You saved my life."
"Social status," Duo replied.
"What?"
"Your role in society. They don’t like me because I don’t have as much money as they do. Because I’m…"
"Because your what, Duo?" Sophie urged. "Because I’m a murderer."
Sophie gasped.
"It’s true; my hands are stained with blood. I’m a Preventor. I do messy work, I fight the terrorists and keep them safe, but they don’t want anyone as violent as me hanging around with someone completely innocent like you."
"But you’re not violent. Duo! I don’t believe that at all!"
Duo stared at her.
"You’re the nicest person in the world, and I don’t care what anyone else says about you! I…I…"
"You what?" Duo asked breathlessly.
"I don’t know," Sophie sighed. "I just know that I don’t want you to leave me all alone." She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head against his shoulder. Then she started to cry. Duo was hurt by the sound of her crying, and he put his own arms around her to comfort her. He rubbed her back soothingly, and stroked her hair. He stood there and let Sophie cry to her heart’s content. It was what she needed.
"I’m sorry Sophie," He whispered. "But these rich people will never let me get close to you again, no matter how hard I try. Not after tonight."
"Then I’ll leave. I’ll go back and live with you again."
"You can’t do that, Sophie."
"Why not?"
"Think about it. Do you really want to leave your family, that you’ve been hoping to meet and searching for half your life? They’re your family Sophie! And whatever they think of me, whether I save your life or not, doesn’t matter, because you need them."
"No, I don’t!" Sophie insisted, "I need you!" She started sobbing again and she buried her face into Duo’s shoulder. "Please don’t go, promise me you’ll come and see me, no matter what…?"
"OK," Duo sighed, "I’ll do my best to come and visit you, whenever I can."
Sophie smiled and stopped crying, but still snuggled deep into his chest. "Thank you, Duo."
"No problem, babe." He grinned. "Now let’s get you cleaned up and your stuff inside and then get back to the party. I’m sure there are a lot of nice guys who are just itching to dance with a pretty lady like you."
Sophie blushed and followed Duo back into the ballroom. Her things were left with Jones to be taken upstairs to her room, and at the same time, he summoned someone to fix her make-up, since it had started to run when she started crying.
When she finally returned to the ball, Duo’s predictions about all the people who wanted to dance with her turned out to be correct.
She spent the rest of the night dancing with strangers and thinking about Duo.
