Project of Passion

Chapter 2

By Ariel Wiegmann

The first person Duo thought of was Heero. Heero, as long as he had enough information, could solve anything, not to mention that, of all the other pilots, Heero was his closest friend. It was true that Heero seemed to never drop his I'm-the-perfect-soldier act, but Duo had recognized the small telltale signs that showed Heero did in fact consider him a friend.

Duo may act aloof, but the pilots had been trained to be observant, not only in battle, but in everyday life. If he had not been so observant, there would have been quite a few times that he would have ended up dead, or worse, in enemy hands. No, Duo knew with out a shadow of a doubt that Heero was his friend, and that he could be trusted.

Duo stopped outside a plain looking house. This was where the high and mighty perfect soldier lived. It was only natural that Heero wouldn't want to stand out, or add even the slightest bit of his own style. 'Probably because he's waiting for someone' thought Duo, snickering. He knocked, and a few moments later the door opened. The perfect soldier stood in the doorway.

"What do you want Duo?"

"Hey man, it's only me. No tricks, gags, or pranks this time. I need some advice. Can I come in?"

Heero considered a moment. He looked innocent enough, but then he'd looked innocent enough when he had come in and tried to "redecorate" his humble home with life-size pictures of Relena…

"Prove it."

"It's about Hilde-chan. I'll strip down naked right here if you want, but this time it's for real."

Heero cringed. The last thing he wanted was someone seeing a naked Duo come walking into his home. He sighed.

"Come in Duo, but I swear on wing zero that if you do anything to my household, I'll kill you and feed your body to pigs."

It was Duo's turn to cringe. He definitely wasn't planning anything, but he knew Heero wasn't joking. Maybe he had gone a little overboard, but it was all in good nature. He'd just have to wait a few months before pulling anything like that again.

"No need to start starving them Heero-chan. I swear on MY Gundam that this is a friendly visit, no jokes involved."

Heero stepped aside, letting Duo pass through. Shutting the door, he walked over to his lounge. He had been taking a nap, since it was his off day and he didn't have anything that needed to be done. Zero had already been enhanced to it's best.

"I'll ask again, what do you want Duo?"

"Well, I came to you because I see how good you are at not hurting Relena-sama's feelings."

"Omae wa korosu."

Duo held up his hands in a gesture of peace.

"It was only a statement. You can't deny the fact that she has feelings for you. I just said that you never make her cry."

"Is that what happened then? You made Hilde cry?"

Heero had jumped at the chance to change the subject. He didn't enjoy talking about matters in his personal life.

Duo looked down at his hands and started twiddling his thumbs.

"Well, it's like this. You see…" and with that Duo told him the whole story, about their night together, and their talk earlier today, and hearing her cry.

"You should ask her out on a date then," Heero snickered.

"Hey man, I'm just like you. I'm not ready for a relationship yet."

"Then why do you keep pushing me to "get with" Relena, in your terms?"

"Because I figured the perfect soldier deserves some semblance of normalcy, no matter how bizarre and happiness. I mean look at it from my point of view. She's perfect for you. Opposites attract, and you can still play the protector, because Relena-sama is almost incapable of protecting herself. She's the one person who didn't care that you were a soldier, even when you told her that you'd kill her. The way I see it, you guys are a match made in heaven."

Heero stared at Duo for a moment. He knew that what Duo had just said was true, but he'd be damned if he let Duo know he agreed. At least not on the issues of what little personal life he had. He sighed for the second time that day.

"Then, if I were you, I'd take her out somewhere. Let her know that even though you aren't ready for a relationship, you still care for her."

"And you would do that for Relena-sama?"

"No. I said if I was YOU, Duo, but I'm not you. Besides, something like that wouldn't have happened with me. I can manage to keep control of myself."

Duo sniggered.

"Yeah, right. I suppose if Relena-sama threw herself at you while you were completely smashed, you wouldn't go for it even then. Like you'd ever get drunk though" replied Duo sarcastically.

Heero raised an eyebrow.

"Hilde threw herself at you?"

Duo glared at Heero.

"No. That scenario was completely fiction. Besides, that part is none of your business."

"And everything else is? I'm sure Hilde wouldn't appreciate me telling you about your night together," mocked Heero.

"Hey man, that was necessary information. Would you have been able to help me without it?"

"Yes, all you had to do was make up a little white lie."

"I try to be as truthful as possible."

"Except when you're planning on redecorating my house."

"Except…" Duo stopped and glanced uneasily at Heero.

He started to sweat.

"You're forgiven Duo, but that's the last time," smirked Heero.

"Ok. I won't try to redecorate your house again."

"Duo…" growled Heero.

"Aww come on. It's all in fun. As long as it isn't anything permanent right? I mean at least it gives you something to do other than sleep all day."

Heero had to admit that it was true, but saying so was tantamount to giving Duo permission to play his pranks all the time.

"I don't care. As long as you aren't pulling pranks on me more than once every three weeks."

They talked a while more, before Heero finally got irritated and literally threw Duo out. Duo didn't take this too badly because he was used to it. It wasn't easy to predict Heero's mood. He knew that it was just Heero's way of letting him know it was time to leave. At least Heero seemed to finally be getting the hang of humanity. He hadn't lightened up much, but at least he had been more talkative than usual.

~*~*~*~*~

When Hilde finally managed to stop crying, she looked at Duo's shirt. Great. All she needed was for him to come back and ask for his shirt, only to find it soaking wet. Not to mention the fact that she definitely looked like she'd been crying. Oh well. She'd known there was a reason for her not to throw out the make-up she had found earlier that week, even if she never used it. Hilde stood up and walked into her bathroom. Opening a small drawer and pulled the base she had found. That should cover up the redness. She looked closely at her reflection. She'd need to do something about how red her eyes were, though. She opened another drawer and rummaged through it.

"Aha!" she said to herself.

She held in her hand a small bottle of eye drops. 'This should clear the redness from my eyes in no time.' So Hilde went to work, applying the base, and making absolutely sure that no redness showed on her face or in her eyes. She made a point of talking to herself so her voice wouldn't sound so unsteady. She stood back at scrutinized her image in the mirror.

"There. No will notice a thing. Now for that shirt."

Hilde went back to her room, and gathered up the small pile of dirty clothes she had, including Duo's shirt in the pile. Hilde smiled to herself. Duo was always coming over and leaving clothes behind. They had planned on him staying the night at her house last night. The smile became a sad one.

"Hilde, I plan on drowning myself in alcohol at Relena-sama's party. In fact, I think everyone is. It's the first time in a while that anyone is going to be free of work, and what better way to relax? Anyone I figure that you're the only who can keep me from doing anything stupid, so would it be ok if I stayed the night at your house?" the memory voice of Duo echoed in her head.

She frowned. He had done something that night, but she didn't know whether to call it stupid or not… The tears threatened to overwhelm her again. 'Stop thinking about. Just forget about,' she scolded herself. But she couldn't forget. Last night had seemed so special to her. She knew that people tended to show their true colors under the influence of alcohol, not to mention their true feelings. Maybe in time… She abruptly focused her mind on the task at hand. Grabbing a handful of quarters of the nightstand, she headed out the door, making sure to lock it behind her. No one would think it unusual for her to go to the laundr-o-matt just to wash one load of clothes. They knew that Hilde like to keep her chores light. With that last thought on the subject, she briskly walked to the closest place she could wash her clothes at.

~*~*~*~*~

Duo had been walking for about an hour, when he came to a certain crossroad he knew well. Should he go to Hilde's apartment or to Quatre's estate? If he went one way it would take him to Hilde's, if he went the other it would take him to Quatre's place of residence. His heart told him Hilde's, but he wanted to ask Quatre's advice on where he should take her. He'd known better than to ask Heero. Besides, Quatre was more in tune with his feelings.

'He may be the perfect soldier, and he might be good with logic, but when it comes to being social, Heero is as clueless as a two year old. Or maybe not. At least a two-year-old has the instinct to be social, and Heero doesn't appear to have anything of the sort,' thought Duo. He stood there debating which way he would go for a couple of minutes before finally deciding that he would go and see Quatre first. Hilde probably didn't want to be around people at the moment, least of all him. No, going to see Quatre first would be for the best. He'd go see her the next day. 'She'll probably be feeling better by then.'

And so Duo ran. He didn't stop running until he reached the door to Quatre's mansion. He stopped in front of the door, and bent over, putting his hands on his knees, and catching his breath. He'd just sprinted about three and a half miles. Quatre lived in a summerhouse near the beach. In fact, a private beach owned by Quatre. Finally, Duo straightened up and rang the doorbell. A minute later, the door was opened by a snobbish looking butler.

"Hey man, is Quatre in?"

"Your name sir?"

"Why do you want my name?"

"I want your name so that I may ask master Quatre if he wishes to see you," the man said in a condescending voice.

"Duo."

"Last name?"

Duo was beginning to get irritated with the man's tone.

"Look pal. Just tell Quatre that Duo's here to see him. How many people do you know with the name Duo."

The man's eyes narrowed, but he agreed.

"Very well, sir. Wait here please."

"Sure. I come here often enough. I don't see why you don't just let me in any way, but I'll wait."

The butler shut the door in Duo's face. 'Man that guy should really lighten up. I swear, he and Heero would get along,' thought Duo. He stood there, waiting impatiently. The door opened a few minutes later, to reveal Quatre.

"Hey, Duo. What's up?" came the sound of Quatre's voice.

He opened the door, and allowed Duo to pass through. Quatre always was a trusting person, even after all the pranks Duo had pulled, which included painting Sandrock Neon Pink and green, with Orange polka dots. They sat down in a medium sized room, with a nice view of the ocean.

"I came to ask your advice on something, Quatre."

Quatre's face took on a concerned demeanor.

"Sure. What's the problem?"

"Well, it's not really a big problem. It's just that I accidentally hurt Hilde-chan's feelings, and I like to take her somewhere to show her that I still care. I was wondering if you had any good ideas on where I could take her.

Quatre, who was under the impression that Duo and Hilde were a couple said, "Take her on a romantic two week cruise."

Duo fell out of his chair. Quatre looked confused.

"Well, aren't you two a couple?"

Duo felt like pulling out his hair, but he liked his hair too much.

"Why is that everyone thinks we're a couple or should be?" Duo asked of no one in particular.

"Because you two make such a cute couple, and how close you guys are."

Duo regained his composure, and sat back down in his chair.

"Ok, let me set this straight. I want to take Hilde-chan somewhere that would let her know I still care for her as friend."

Quatre pondered this for a minute.

"Why not take her to the fair? I hear there's one in town."

"I could do that, but what if she wants to go on the Ferris wheel?"

Quatre looked at Duo inquisitively.

"Why should that bother you?"

Duo had said it without thinking. He covered quickly.

"Well, you see. I know that Hilde-chan kinda has this… uh… romantic interest in me, and er… I'm not ready for any… umm… romantic relationships right now…" he trailed off.

Quatre was staring at him.

"And you see the Ferris wheel as a romantic ride," Quatre finished for him.

"Exactly."

Quatre considered this a bit more.

"Well, I heard there is another fair in town, that's just as nice. They haven't had a Ferris wheel for a while, because of an accident a while ago… and there aren't any romantic type rides either…"

"Perfect! Where's this Fair at?"

So Quatre told him. They chatted for another hour or two about this and that. When Duo finally left to go home, the sun was low on the horizon, and he felt good about himself. He was going to make things between Hilde and him right again.