Beautiful Stranger




Part 7 



Early Sunday Afternoon 

/ I looked into your eyes
And my world came tumbling down
You're the devil in disguise
That's why I'm singing this song to you.../
"It really was you, wasn't it," Duo whispered.

Zechs said nothing for a moment, just stood, his eyes locked on Duo's. He had the look
 of a man who has just lost his most prized possession - and knows, in an instant, 
that he will never get it back.

"Yes, Duo. I'm responsible for what happened."

The arm clutching the charred blueprint sagged downward. Duo said nothing, but his 
entire demeanor seemed to crumple and sadden. He couldn't bring himself to look at 
the tall blond standing opposite him.

I...I...thought I knew him...would never have dreamed he'd do something like this..
.why Zechs?...why?...

"You may not want to hear the reasons for what I did, but you have to. I have to 
know that you've heard them, at least, even if they do nothing to change your 
opinion about me. You still need to know..."

Duo felt weak. He sat down on the bed, still rumpled from the morning's activities. 
His gaze was fixed on the floor in front of him. Looking at Zechs now was just too 
painful.

"I'm listening..." he whispered.

Zechs took a deep breath and strode over to the window facing the gardens. He stood 
very tall and still as he gazed out over the grounds and began to speak. It was 
important - so very important - that he get the words absolutely right.

"I have always had an enormous respect for Heero Yuy. I've respected his strength, 
and his skill as a soldier. I've respected his dedication to the causes he fights 
for, and his willingness to give up his life for something he believes in. He has a 
sense of honor about him - all of you did - that few people can maintain during a 
prolonged war. He has been my enemy, but he was an honorable enemy, and that is the 
greatest thing a soldier like myself can ask for."

Duo's chest felt strangely heavy, hearing the now-familiar low voice speak of his 
former lover this way. For all of his chatter, at the moment his mind was silent 
and only listening.

"When Relena invited me back to this place, several weeks ago, I was hesitant at 
first. So many horrible memories for me here - so many reasons to feel ashamed 
of who I was meant to be, and who I've become. But she told me that Heero would 
be here as well, and for some reason, I still don't know why, I wanted to see 
him again. I wanted him to know how much I respected him, as a former enemy. I 
tried to speak with him on several occasions during his first week here, but he 
never acknowledged me, just as he ignored Relena. I thought it must have been a 
grudge he carried from the war, but now I think it was something very different. 
I think he was in agony, trying to come to terms with not having you."

Zechs looked back at the long-haired American, sitting perfectly still on his bed. 
He couldn't bear to hold the gaze - the sight of Duo, silent and unmoving, was too 
much to bear. When he spoke again, his voice was lower, the sadness he felt finding 
voice.

"After that day, when he and Relena had been gone so long, I felt that something 
inside of him had been broken. He just wasn't the same person and as difficult as 
it was to be around him before that time, I found it infinitely worse from that 
day on. I knew that Relena had said or done something to cause it, partly because 
she herself seemed...almost giddy when they returned. When I asked her about it, 
she confided that she had proposed to him and that he had accepted. She wouldn't 
say anything about the reason for this and that made me even more suspicious.

"I finally cornered Heero one evening when Relena was visiting friends. It took 
me three hours and one of my best bottles of cognac, but I did get some information 
out of him. He told me that he had to marry Relena, that he owed it to her. It seems 
that near the end of the war she stopped him from self-destructing...and taking 
out a large children's center with him. He was so far gone he hadn't seen the center. 
He would have done it and killed all those children, too, if Relena hadn't been there 
and managed to talk him out of it. Apparently that was the sole topic of conversation 
during that walk they took. Relena used it to...press her point. Said that Heero owed 
her something. So he said that even though he loved someone else, he would go through 
with the wedding for her sake. His face was horrible as he told me - it looked..
.almost...dead. He seemed dead - a walking corpse pretending to be here, pretending 
to be alive. And I remember thinking that a warrior of his caliber deserved a better 
end to the war than that."

Something odd was happening in Duo's mind as Zechs spoke. Clouded confusion was 
drifting, condensing into the figure of a tall man in long boots. A long, dark 
blue cape swirled out behind him, setting off the silky mass of his long, white-blond 
hair. His hand was on the hilt of a sword, still sheathed at his side, and his face..
.was hidden in a mask. Duo looked up at Zechs, then. The tall man stood, his back to 
Duo, his hand on the window frame, looking over what once was meant for him and him alone.

He doesn't look much different even now. Even in peacetime, when soldiers like us are 
easy to forget, he still looks like a warrior...

"So I began to think of how I could get him out of the wedding. I knew Relena would 
never see the truth - what a sham her marriage to Heero would be. She's in love with 
him in a very selfish way, I think. She wants him and she wants all the world to know 
she has him, but that's not what love is meant to be. Love...means working your hardest 
to make the one you love happy. Even if that means they won't be with you anymore..."

Zechs was quiet for a long time. Duo watched him carefully, looking for any sign that 
might give away what the eldest of the Peacecrafts was feeling, but there was no movement, 
no small sound, to give him away. Eventually, the low voice began again.

"I had to get Heero to tell her. Tell her how he truly felt about her, and about whoever 
this person was that he already loved. Just asking him to do it was of absolutely no use. 
He was so far gone with his ideas of obligation that he'd never say anything on his own. 
He appears to be an absolute mule when he has his mind fixed on something.

"Yeah, I hear that..." Duo muttered, not realizing at first he had said it out loud. Zechs 
turned briefly to see Duo looking up at him. The faintest flicker of a smile played around 
his lips before he turned back to the window.

"I had to make him say something. Put him in a situation so intense that he would have 
no choice. It would never happen any other way. So I had my architect draw up the blueprint 
for the passageway inside the walls. I created a plan for luring both of them in. It seemed 
perfect to use the cover of an intruder; not only would Heero be forced to tell Relena the 
truth, but whatever obligation Heero felt might be canceled by the fact that he would, 
seemingly, save Relena's life. Neither of them would have to know that it was I who was 
the intruder and that Relena was never in actual danger. The deed would be done. Relena 
couldn't hold anything over him and he would have to face up to his feelings. Everything 
was perfect. Then you came."

Duo looked up quickly. Zechs was standing, framed by the window and the swirling gray 
fog just beyond it, his face in shadow but outlined by a hazy, silver light. He got up 
from the bed slowly, and walked to the window, standing opposite Zechs, but facing him. 
Violet-blue eyes searched the Duke's face as he spoke, almost whispered, "Yeah? What about 
me?"

The Duke appeared to be struggling for control, keeping his distance from the slender 
boy with difficulty. His gaze caught and held Duo's as he continued to speak.

"You came. I saw you in the airport and...I wanted you...never really knew how lovely 
you were. And when I saw how much you'd been grieving...over him, it had to be him of 
course, I wanted to punish him. Punish him by giving you nothing but pleasure...didn't 
even know if it would work, but I thought you'd be worth it."

He furrowed his brows and looked down for a moment.

"I wish that I could say that my first feelings for you were high-minded and unselfish, 
but they weren't - not a first."

He looked back up at Duo, his eyes gone intensely blue.

"That didn't come until later."

Duo felt a shiver of adrenaline race through him at Zechs' words.

Not good - don't make the same mistake...he tricked you, remember? Tricked everyone, 
especially Heero...Heero who supposedly told Relena he couldn't marry her. So the 
trick worked...

Zechs had turned slightly, so that he looked out of the window as he spoke.

"I never intended what happened in the garden. I just wanted Heero to see you and I 
together - foolishly thought that might prompt him to say something - God I was so 
angry with him for hurting you that way. But being with you then, it was so good. I 
wasn't able to stop - didn't want to stop, and you seemed so happy with it..."

Zechs raised one slim, elegant hand to his forehead, the only sign of the turmoil he 
was in.

"After we had been together in the garden that night, I came back to my rooms and 
revised what I had been planning. Everything had changed, you see. It wouldn't do 
just to have Heero tell Relena. You loved him, and I suspected that he loved you. 
So you had to hear it, too. Had to be there when he told her. It should have been 
an easy revision - after all I could think of many reasons that you might have to 
be in the passageway with us. And actually that part was simplicity itself. All I 
had to do was keep you near me..."

The blond man's voice trailed off into silence. He seemed to be very far away, lost 
in the fog outside the window.

"Zechs?" Duo said. "Why did you have to do that - have me hear this confession of 
Heero's? Why was it so important?"

Long moments passed with the Duke of Sank in utter silence. Then, unexpectedly, his 
voice -

"Because I love you, Duo. Because I want nothing more than your happiness. And I know 
that you can only be happy with Heero. It would have worked so well if I hadn't fallen 
for you...but I never changed my intentions. I did and still do want only the best for 
you. You are one of the strongest and bravest people I have ever met. And even though 
I had only been with you for five or six hours, I felt that somehow I knew you. After 
the garden you weren't a stranger to me anymore. Someone had raised the stakes..."

"So you reprogrammed the palace's electrical system - the security system too - and you 
got us all back there in the passageway."

"Yes," Zechs replied. "And I had to get Heero to believe that not only was Relena in 
danger, but that you were as well. So after the lights went out in the passageway, I 
slipped behind you and held the cloth to your face. The chemical was completely harmless.
..a little concoction one of the OZ chemists made up. It produces unconsciousness 
for about 5 minutes. Unfortunately, it was longer for you...But I carried you to the 
space I planned to bring Heero to and then called for you so that Heero would hear me. 
He came, just as I expected he would, and while he was doing that, I moved to the far 
side of that space, where I could easily grab Relena."

"But, how were you able to see?" Duo asked.

"I had been practicing in the week before you came. I knew the place perfectly, so I 
didn't need any light. Even knew the exact location of the cloak I had left back there, 
so I could slip it on before going to find Relena. The knife and the flare were in the 
pocket. Finding Relena was easy, given her tendency to call for Heero over and over. 
And then it was time for the play."

"You threatened Relena so that Heero could do something to save her life," Duo offered.

"Yes, but that wasn't my real goal. I wanted him to tell her he wasn't in love with her, 
to tell her that he loved you. You supposed to be awake by then, but you weren't...All 
that time...listening to Relena and Heero argue back and forth...and there you were, 
lying on the floor...God I was frantic...worried that the chemical had done something 
terrible to you...so I had to leave, had to move away from Relena and get back to you 
to find out what was wrong. It was odd, but Relena was so upset about what Heero was 
saying that she didn't even notice I had left. After that it was just a matter of moving 
to the other side of the room."

"But you couldn't have done that without them seeing you - that flare was burning," Duo 
insisted.

"Relena and I were on the edge of the flare's light. I had thrown it into the center of 
the room so that the edges of the space would stay in shadow. With the dark cloak, no 
one saw me and I was able to take it off and pretend that I had just gotten there...The 
first thing I did was go to you...What a horrible sight - seeing you lying there, not 
moving..."

"So... that kiss...when I woke up, in front of Heero -"

"Hadn't thought to stage that," Zechs said softly. "I was just so relieved to see your 
eyes open that I...I.." The Duke of Sank bowed his head. "I'm sorry."

He looked up at the braided boy.

"It didn't really work, you see? You weren't awake when he told Relena...that he loved 
you more than life itself and that he had never felt that way about her - only you, Duo. 
And part of me...part of me wanted it to be that way. I know how powerful those kinds of 
words would be from him; you've been waiting so long to hear them. But I also knew 
once you heard Heero, you would never be able to hear me."

Duo reached out a hand and hesitantly touched the cheek of the tall blond man before him. 
Zechs didn't move, just continued to stare into Duo's eyes.

"I'm not him, Duo. I'll never be him. It's taken me a long time to allow myself to be who 
I am. Can't change that now...But if it's Heero you want, you should know that he wants 
you, too. And as much as I love you - because I love you, I want you to be with the person 
who makes you happiest...and I know that probably isn't me."

Duo was staring at Zechs' azure-blue eyes, his gaze so intense that the older man began 
to worry something was very wrong with his small companion. Suddenly, Duo looked down at 
the floor, his hands coming up to either side of his head. He seemed to be fighting to 
speak, his fists clutching at his own hair, he head shaking back and forth.

"I'm sorry - can't think...can't think..."

And suddenly, Zechs was alone.

**********

Heero had looked all over the palace - with the exception of Zechs' suite. A part of him 
didn't want to know if Duo was there with the Duke, in his bed, accepting the Peacecraft 
heir's hands on him, his kisses, his invasions. But now it had to be faced. He was at the 
bottom of the front staircase and he knew he had to confront Zechs - there was no 
other way to find Duo, and he had to find Duo.

He made his way up the stairs and across the landing. The hallway leading to Duke's suite 
was silent and Heero felt an air of foreboding from the closed doors on either side of him. 
A pair of double doors stood at the end of the hallway. He walked to them and paused for 
only a moment before knocking on them sharply.

**********

/ To know you
Is to love you
You're everywhere I go
And everybody knows../

The Duke of Sank was sitting at his writing desk, his head buried in his hands. He rocked 
back and forth ever so slightly, in a universal gesture of sorrow and grief.

/Lost...lost to me...better that I'd never met him...better...no...no, I've done something 
for him that will change his life forever...he has a real chance of being happy now, if 
that idiot Yuy stays true to his word...he can be happy and I want that for him...because 
he has suffered enough..and I love him so much.../He lifted his head as a sharp knock came 
at the door.

The door opened and the two soldiers faced each other. Heero tensed, his hands curling 
unconsciously into fists, his scowl becoming more severe.

"Where is he, Zechs?" the dark-haired boy hissed through clenched teeth.

"I don't know, Heero. He was here a little while ago but he left. He didn't tell me 
where he was going." Zechs' demeanor was a study in grace under pressure. His face 
was calm, his hands relaxed at his side - the exact opposite of Heero.

"If you've done anything to him, Zechs, I swear -"

"What are you afraid I would do, Heero?" Zechs demanded, anger straying into the icy 
calm. "Rape him? Beat him? You seem to have taken care of that yourself!"

Heero's eyes flashed with anger. He took a step closer to the tall blond.

"Duo understands what I do! He knows me better than anyone and I know him the same way!"

"Do you?" Zechs interrupted. "Do you really know what he wants? Or just what he can do 
for you? How can you possibly think that what you did to him last night is anywhere 
close to acceptable behavior?? I don't care if you two have some sort of telepathic 
connection! Duo did nothing to deserve what you gave him last night. It was disgusting, 
Heero. There is no place for violence between two people who love each other, and you 
shouldn't be so cocksure of yourself when your lover runs away and cowers after you've 
been with him."

Zechs' face was flushed, his eyes piercingly blue. He stood only inches away from the 
Japanese boy now, struggling to keep his hands off the boy's neck.

/Duo loves him. I know you want to, but...ah God, how can this idiot have a hold of 
Duo so deeply? He doesn't deserve him...not at all./

When Zechs spoke again, his voice had regained the cool air of composure he had 
begun with.

"I think the important thing now is to find Duo. You take the front gardens and 
I'll search the back."

And with that, the Lightning Count strode off, cutting a dashing figure as he 
descended the main stairs.

**********

The graveyard was beautiful in the mist. Stone angels with downcast eyes stood 
gracefully, grieving eternally for people long since gone. Crosses stood as silent 
witnesses to the end of life, and gleaming marble spoke eloquently about the people 
buried underneath the smooth stones. The swirling fog, that had yet to lift, moved in 
a macabre caress, around the small sepulcher where the boy sat. He had found this, the 
Peacecraft vault, and had collapsed on the marble steps leading in to the crypt. He 
drew his knees up and rested his head on them as he fought for breath and understanding.

/So confused...Heero...loves me...has always loved me...how long have I waited to hear 
that?...and now that it's come, I feel...strangely empty. Not the total joy I thought I 
would feel...and it wasn't Heero's doing...not Heero's gift...it was Zechs' gift to me..
.Zechs loves me...and why?...he should be looking for a woman to be his Duchess...
thinking about making another Peacecraft heir...but he's reaching out to me instead..
.so confused.../

"Are you thinking of the dead, today?"

The strange voice made Duo jump. He looked up to see a frail-looking, elderly man, 
peering down at him through thick-lensed glasses, with a sympathetic smile. The look 
of the old man, at once soft and wise, won over Duo's reticence.

"Actually I was thinking of the living - although many people I love are dead. Killed 
in the war."

"Ah, that's a terrible thing, to see people you love go that way, instead of peacefully 
in old age."

"I used to have to say that everyone I loved was dead, but...that's not true any more.." 
Duo replied, wondering why he was telling the old man this.

"God always brings us new souls to share with, even though the familiar ones are gone," 
mused the old man.

Duo remembered his manners suddenly.

"My name is Duo, I'm staying at the palace this weekend. Do you work around here?" he 
asked, extending his hand.

The man shook it warmly and said, "Oh my yes, I'm the vicar of the little church here - 
uh over there, lost in the fog." He waved a shaky finger to the right of the crypt. "This 
is my churchyard. I maintain it, yes, but I also like to come here and just sit sometimes. 
I find it very peaceful. Now, what is the problem you're having with these people 
who are living?"

Duo turned his head to see the old man, eyes huge behind the thick glasses, peering at 
him in a friendly way. Something about him encouraged confidences, and Duo found himself 
talking.

"It's stupid, really, that is, it'll seem that way to you. There is this person, someone 
who I've loved for several years, who has admitted loving me. It's amazing, really. Something 
I've hoped for - dreamed of. But..."

The vicar put his head to one side, pondering the boy's silence but not interrupting it.

"There's another person...a stranger really...beautiful stranger, though...and that person 
has just done the most incredible thing...for me...and I...I don't know what to do...scared 
of... that..."

"What are you scared of, my boy?" the old man asked gently.

Duo thought for a moment, and was somewhat shocked at the answer that came to the surface.

"It's hard to let go...of something you've had for so long...even if it's time to let go. 
Even if something else would be much better for you. I feel...I feel like I'm walking away 
from something without knowing if there's something to walk towards. Am I making any sense?" 
Duo asked.

"Yes," the man replied, "perfect sense. Now, let me show you something that may be of help." 
He stood up and motioned for Duo to follow him up the stairs of the Peacecraft vault. 
Standing before the heavy doors, the vicar pointed up at the lintel atop them. Duo peered 
up into the gloom and saw the words, inscribed in the gray stone.

"Mors Januar Vitae"

Duo's exposure to Latin had been brief, but he remembered every word of what Father Maxwell 
had taught him.

"Death is the gateway of life," he murmured, staring up at the words and letting the 
implication of them break over him like a wave.

"So it is," sighed the elderly vicar. "It is, of course, the extreme case, but it makes 
a useful analogy to so much in our everyday lives. Do you understand why I wanted you to 
see it?"

Duo looked over at his odd companion.

"I think so, vicar. You're saying that...that people want to hold onto things, even when 
it's time to let them go, because they worry about moving from something familiar to 
something strange, something that may be...a sort of...nothingness."

The vicar's white, fuzzy head was nodding encouragingly. Duo felt a rush of gratitude 
for the old man's kindness. He pointed to the engraved words.

"But this...this means that the things we're most scared of are what lead us to the next 
room - lead us to where we need to be going in life."

The vicar looked pointedly at the slim, braided boy.

"We can stand at that threshold forever," the man said softly, "and never experience the 
life that was meant for us. In order to take ahold of what God has planned, we have to 
pass through many deaths, don't we? The death of seasons, the death of childhood, of innocence 
of relationships at times. But contrary to what our terrified minds tell us, death is simply 
a gateway to the next stage of God's plan. It may seem fearful and strange, but it just a 
threshold to what lies beyond. And, Duo, something always lies beyond."

Duo took one last look at the ancient Latin phrase above the crypt. He planned to take it 
with him, when he left this place, and he didn't want to forget a word. He turned at last 
to the old man, watching him with a bemused expression.

"Thank you," Duo said. "I really needed someone to talk to - well, maybe I needed someone 
to talk to me...I was so confused when I came here, but now...I think I know what I have 
to do - where I need to go."

"I have great confidence in you, young man. I wish you well in your decision. May I 
drive you somewhere? I have my car just out that way," he said, waving vaguely in the 
direction of the church.

"Thank you," Duo replied, "but I can walk to the palace."

"Ah, yes, you said you were staying there," the vicar said as they walked back down 
the marble steps. "Are you a friend of our young Duke?"

Duo stopped for a moment, then looked at the vicar and said, "Well, I don't know if 
I'm his friend yet, but he's not a stranger." With a wave he was off the way he had 
come, blinking in surprise at the sunlight that had appeared for the first time that day.

**********

The Duke of Sank was fighting despair. No sign of Duo in an hour of searching, no sign of 
Yuy either.

/They are probably together. Heero found Duo and they have come to their understanding. 
Duo will be very happy...I need to remember that.../

He rounded a corner in the overgrown path that led to the small church to the south of 
the palace, and Duo Maxwell, coming the other way but looking backwards at something, 
fell right into his arms.

For a moment they were both too surprised to say a thing. Neither moved as they fought 
to regain their voices.

"D-Duo! I was...looking for you...I was worried...you left...so suddenly..."

"I...I...uh..." Duo felt every word he had ever known fly right out of his head - chased 
away by intense blue eyes and golden hair, by a handsome face with the bearing of a 
king and the spirit of a warrior.

"Zechs...?" he managed to get out before Zechs leaned down and kissed him gently, a 
long, lingering kiss that had Duo humming softly by its end.

Duo reached out and wrapped his arms around Zechs' chest, burying his face in the 
soft shirt. Then he looked up at the tall nobleman.

"I love you, too Zechs. I...I want to be with you...want to know what that's like.
..please?"

Zechs looked down at the chestnut-colored head, resting against him. He ran a hand 
over the hair, caressing it gently, then took Duo's chin in his hand and tilted it 
up, so the boy's eyes met his.

"No need to ask, love. If you want me, I'll be here with you."

Duo pulled Zechs' golden head down for another kiss - deeper and more passionate 
than the first.

/ To love you
Is to be part of you
I paid for you with tears
And swallowed all my pride...
Da-da-da-dum da-dum da-dum da da da-da dum
Beautiful stranger.../

**********

Late Sunday Afternoon

"Heero?" A soft voice cut through the silence in the Hidden Garden.

The Japanese boy turned at the sound of Duo's voice.

"Hn...Duo..." His voice was wary.

"I came to tell you...that I'm leaving...and that I...I'm going with Zechs. I don't 
want to hurt you, Heero, because I still love you...so much...but I can't live like 
this anymore. I can't take the beatings, Heero, or what happened last night. I need..
.I need to be with Zechs."

Heero stared at the slender boy who was tearing his world apart. It was an effort, 
but he managed to speak.

"Are you...are you...in love with him...with Zechs?"

"Yes, Heero, I am. I love you both, more than I could even begin to tell you. But I 
can't stay with you, Hee-chan. It just hurts too much."

Duo crossed the distance between them and took the other boy in his arms. He hugged 
him fiercely and then pulled back, kissing Heero in passion and grief, memorizing the 
feel of his lips, the way his body felt against Duo's, the scent of Heero that belonged 
to no one else. Then he stepped back, smiled softly, and disappeared around the 
hedges.

Heero stood looking at the place he had last seen Duo for a very long time.

**********

The small hotel was bustling with lodgers, but the proprietor had managed to find 
one more room, up under the eaves, for the new guest. He had reassured the intense 
looking boy that all of the rooms had comm unit and computer access, and after that 
the boy had disappeared up the stairs, without a word. The innkeeper sighed to 
himself - at least there were plenty of other customers to chat with.

In his tiny room, Heero Yuy brought his comm unit on-line and typed in the familiar 
code. In less than half a minute, a sweet, familiar face was greeting him enthusiastically, 
looking no older than he had during the war. Heero wondered briefly if Quatre would ever 
look older than 15.

"Heero!" the blond pilot smiled angelically. "It's so wonderful to hear from you! How are 
you? Is Duo with you? Can you come for a visit? I'm so glad you called!"

Heero held onto the image of the young Arabian's face as if it were a life jacket. His 
voice was in danger of breaking as he forced out the words.

"Quatre...he's gone...Duo...he's left me...for someone else...please...help me...help me..."

Quatre's face immediately became suffused with concern. He had never heard the stern 
ex-pilot of Wing Gundam in this much distress. But, God, if Duo had left...

"Get on the next flight and come here, Heero. Or I can send a plane for you. Where 
are you?"

"Quatre, you have to help me get him back. I...I can't..."

"Heero, let's just get you here, first. The we'll talk about how to get him back, ok?"

Heero Yuy nodded and told his old comrade where to find him.

**********

The small, ice-blue roadster sped along the highway. It was raining again, but the 
two people inside seemed to pay little attention to it. One drove with stylish 
expertise, the other bounced around in his seat, doing his best to dance, the music 
from the radio loud and hard-driving. Duo sang at the top of his voice, causing Zechs 
to stifle a smile. He had been used to listening to the ancient composers, Bach, Beethoven, 
Handel. But, sneaking a sideways glance at the braided boy in his passenger seat, he had to 
admit the noise was well worth it.

"Oh, hey I forgot to ask," Duo shouted above the music, "where are we going?"

"The call I got from Noin - remember that?" Zechs shouted back, watching in amazement 
as his speakers actually vibrated.

Duo nodded as he bounced and Zechs tried to put thoughts of other ways to make the boy 
happy out of his mind - for the moment.

"There's been an accident, one of the high-levels' wives is missingfrom the officer's 
club and Noin says everyone is spooked. She asked me to come over so I thought I go and 
see if I can help at all. Besides," Zechs said, his voice perfectly calm, "it 's probably 
time that I told her about you. I think you'll like Africa."

Duo kept bouncing - it was the best way to cover up a bad case of the shakes.

"Uhhh huh," he replied, giving Zechs a sideways glance. "Can we at least stop soon?"

"All right," said Zechs, his voice hesitant. "Are you hungry again? We just ate. What 
do you want now?"

Duo just kept bouncing and pointed a finger at Zechs.

The car swerved suddenly, then kicked into overdrive and sped off down the road.


>> owari <<

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