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It had been five years after the Marimara incident and the end of the war. All the Gundam pilots had went their separate ways. Quatre to take over his father's company. Trowa to his sister and the circus. Duo to the sweepers. Heero to protect the new system of peace by protecting Vice Minister Releena Peacecraft as her head of security. Wufei was the only one to fully join the Preventors organization. The others had also joined as part time Preventors.
In truth the only two that were seen were in pictures and maybe Trowa in circus ads. But the two were Quatre the prominently famous bachelor and multi-billionaire of the L-4 family. He was in the papers daily. The other that was seen in photographs was Heero, being Releena's head of security and main body guard was often caught in his black suit and sunglasses.
After the five year mark Heero handed Releena's safety to the Preventor's organization, opting for the more exciting field assignments. After that Heero practically disappeared from the world's eyes and Releena made sure that nothing would appear in the papers. The five Gundam pilots were still mysterious and unmasked to the public.
Quatre was desperately trying to transfer an even amount of his workload from him to all his 29 sisters. Thus giving him free time away from the office to socialize. He was mostly concerned with looking for dirty business and forcibly ruining them. Most he ruined were selling black market weapons or trying to sell Moblie Suits. He also carefully monitored his Companies ties and where his money was going to and why. In truth this was more tiring than his role at WEI and it was beginning to show. But Quatre was also investing in the rebirth of the L-2 colony and making it a true colony rather than a street rat prison. Of course Duo had never been told of Quatre's interjections on the Colony. More importance Quatre had been working on rebuilding the Maxwell Church and trying to find out the real truth behind it. He was not at all surprised that it was a rebel fraction not connected to White Fang or the Order of the Zodiac. In truth they had been no better than bandits, playing both sides.
After he found that out, he set about on finding the original blueprints of the building and moving it to a better area with a nice field for kids to play in. He asked the Sweepers to keep Duo off L-2 for about 2 years. And in truth Duo hadn't returned to L-2 since the wars. He set up The Maxwell Monument where the original building had stood and wrote it's history down listing the dead that had been found and more importantly survivors. Duo didn't know that he wasn't the only survivor. There was a girl that had been playing at a friends house that day.
That in itself had been a challenge to locate the girl, who was no longer a girl. From what he had found out she had been part of the gang of kids that Duo had ran with before being caught by Father Maxwell. She had taken after Duo, a little cat with too much energy and a knack for getting in and out of mischief. It had been Trowa who had found her. It turned out she was in a band called Dehem as far as he could tell. He had Trowa recruit her for Duo's self given Birthday that was coming up in less than a week.
"Hello this is Taco Bell, May I take you Order Please." said a teasing voice into the phone.
"Sure I would like the Maxwell Surprise number one-fifteen." a voice answered back.
"Heyalla Blondie! So whatcha been up ta?"
"Well I will be visiting the Sweepers in the next few days. I thought we could go out for your birthday Duo."
"But Q My b-day ain't more than one week away. What are you plannin on, you charmer you." Duo teased.
"Well pick me up at the port today at noon your time. Pack about two weeks of clothes and don't eat. Once you pick me up, I have other plans for the two of us." Quatre laughed at Duo's nickname of Charmer. "If I am right you have the next month off. Am I right?"
"Quat! I can't believe you! You arranged my time off! I thought Howard was bein Generous or somtin. Man I neva suspected you of all people but I should have known. You Sly Fox!" Duo said trying to convict his friend of harmless schedule plotting.
"If it makes you feel better Duo, this has been planned for about three months." Quatre said trying to rectify his mistake.
"Naw it's okay... I think. Anyway I bet you are on one of your Shuttles right?"
"Yeah. If I can convince the pilot to let me fly I may be there in an hour or two." Quatre said decreasing his time by nearly four hours.
"Hehe you never change. I always thought I was the only one for the need for speed in the group." Duo laughed. He had forgotten how much Quatre loved getting an adrenaline rush from speeding.
Quatre chuckled back and then whooped in joy. "Hey Duo see ya in about 2 hours!" and he hung up the phone.
An hour and a half later the Winner Shuttle landed at the shuttle port. Duo was there waiting for him. Quatre rushed up to Duo and gave him a great big hug. Which Duo returned gratefully.
"So Quat, what is next?" Duo questioned the blond. All he got for an answer was a grin.
"Wait here. I wanna check on something." Quatre asked politely.
"Sure thing."
Quatre rushed off to the flight control tower.
"Is my second shuttle here?"
"Aye it is now if you want to be heading off, the next five minutes is the perfect time. We already cleared the flight plan and set the shuttle on auto pilot. It should be okay until you need to dock." the Flight Control responded.
"Great. I will get going as soon as I can get to the shuttle."
"Gods Speed to you, Mr. Winner."
Quatre left and ran down back to Duo. He didn't explain but grabbed Duo's wrist and pulled him to the second shuttle. He climbed into the cockpit. "W-2 ready to fly."
"W-2 this is Flight, you are cleared and ready for launch."
"Copy W-2 out."
Quatre got his shuttle to space and locked the cockpit with a voice activation password.
"Okay Quatre gonna explain to me why I was practically kidnapped?" Duo said getting a bit miffed that He hadn't been told a single thing as to the plans.
"Nope. But you will be seeing the others soon. And Maybe an old friend or two." Quatre stated mysteriously.
It was then that Duo noticed that this shuttle had no windows at all. He couldn't tell where he was going.
"Quatre..." Duo said warningly.
"Duo I told you. This is for your birthday. Please don't make me ruin the surprise. Take a nap or I can sedate you. I brought several movies that haven't been released yet. They are supposed to be scary... Your forte so give a review on them to the Producers. Just keep yourself busy." Quatre pleaded and used his only available weapon, his eyes. He did the puppy eyes with a cute pout and a slight sniffle for effect. Duo never lasted thirty seconds against it. And now was no different. Duo caved in in less than fifteen. Quatre went back to the cockpit and made a few calls.
~0~
Wufei was laughing he had heard the tantrum that Duo had thrown from Quatre and gave his report and what time they would be there.
"That should give us plenty of time. Trowa even got the whole circus here for the two week period, which means that his present is some sort of act. But also Cathrine will be here too. Heero has gone to find that girl Trowa found. I have covered up the Maxwell Monument and building. Though the orphans should be arriving soon as well as the Nuns and Priests to raise them. The Maxwell Home and Church is fully stocked in toys and food. They even have some pets being transferred in. I also prepared a slide show of old Maxwell pictures. I have the originals in a photo album. Duo will like it. But you had better blindfold him before you leave the shuttle. He hasn't had any news from L2 in 5 years and improvements will surprise him. Anyway everything is ready now. I will pick you up in five hours." Wufei reported back.
"See you then." Quatre said in a grateful voice.
~0~
Heero had no trouble locating the group Dehem. He found them getting ready to perform at a local bar. He waited until they had finished hours later to confront them. He gave the stage hands a note that simply stated Solo and Duo. It would only mean something to the girl he was looking for. He waited near the stage.
The stage hands passed the note to the band faithfully. It passed through each member's hand until it reached the main singer's. Her hand shook when she read the three words on it. The rest of the band looked at her curiously. She went out on stage and asked around until one of the hands pointed to a boy at the edge of the stage. She hopped down and appeared at his side.
"You sent this note?" she hissed angrily.
"It was me." Heero replied humorously.
"Well big shot I wont have ya martyr their names. What the hell ya up to?" she demanded.
"Martyr? I have no need to do that. Those words would mean nothing unless you knew the both of them personally. It was meaningless to any others reading it making it perfect for getting you out to talk."
"They are both dead! Solo died from a so called vaccine but was a poison. It was used to control street trash. Duo died in the Maxwell Church incident. But now thanks to big companies the land is to be made into a major Company headquarters." she shot back acidly at him.
Heero glared at her. In truth the lights had been dim and now with the lights back on he could see her clearly. She had had those same damned eyes as Duo and had a hue or two lighter than Quatre's blond hair. She had a nicely honed body that spoke of a female fighter.
"Duo isn't dead. He became Shinigami." Heero said in a low voice.
"Shinin- Duo did! Wha- HOW!" she asked with a dreadfully hopeful voice.
Heero noticed. "His motto is, I may run and hide but I never tell a lie. He has those same eyes as you do and keeps his hair in a braid. He wouldn't let anyone cut it including Sister Helen and it became symbolic to him. Does that convince you?"
"Ye-ah it does. By the way name is Tria. You are?"
"Heero Yuy."
"No s**t? Named after a famous colony pacifist." she said thoughtfully
"Nope no s**t." Heero grinned a toothy grin.
"So what was your purpose for taking me aside soldier." she said in a dangerous grin. Heero was surprised. " Oh don't look to surprised. It was ya stance and that ya keep gazin the room over lookin for threats." she explained.
Heero smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that, habit. To business, I have a surprise birthday for a friend coming home to L2 soon. Thing is we kept in the dark about EVERYTHING on L-2 so he doesn't even know that L2 is considered 300% better than 10 years ago. Well I suppose That is all I can say." he shrugged
"I bet that since you cornered me it is for Duo?" She guessed vaguely
"Damn."
Tria laughed. "Don't take much Sherlock. Sure no problem Ya gonna house me and the band until the day?"
"No problem. That is the least of our worries. It's more of trying to keep everything under wraps from Duo." Heero sighed.
"Well I gotta tell meh band that we gotta job for about a week." she said as she walked away then stopped. "She wrote something down on the note. "Here. Contact me use in this number by tomorrow by noon and tell us where we are kippin at." she said as she tossed it to Heero.
"got it."
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Quatre had been holed up in that gods be damned cockpit. Quatre knew very well that Duo couldn't get past the voice passwords. But If Quatre didn't show up soon then Duo was going to take apart the panel wall and short circuit it. Just as he was going to get his knife out to unscrew the panel when the door opened. And Quatre stepped outside the cockpit. He gave Duo the blindfold and tied it securely around Duo's eyes. He also put earplug in Duo's ears he made Duo sit down and wait.
Quatre went back into he cockpit and docked the shuttle. He made the flight plan for 16 day from then. He directed Duo out of the shuttle and into Wufei's waiting car.
Duo was annoyed. He didn't know where the ******** he was and he wanted to see. Not being able to see reminding him of that gods be damned room on the ******** moon. And don't even get him started on not hearing.
When they arrived at the hotel Duo still blindfolded, was led to an inner room where there was no windows. It was then that Quatre let Duo take it off after a moment of leaving his side and running into his line of sight. Duo carefully removed the blindfold, keeping his eyes closed after taking it off and when he opened them he saw Quatre with his old friends. Duo was surprised. He hadn't expect all of them to get time off at the same time. He gave a wide smile. "Ya know ya guys you could have come and invaded my place ya know? My birthday is three days away ya know. Where are we by the way?" he asked as he looked around trying to figure where he was.
"Now that would be telling Maxwell" Wufei replied with a wide grin.
"Yup, now you have to stay inside for two days. On the morning of the third day we go to show you your presents. You will like them. They have been in plan for about five years now." Quatre explained.
Heero knew how hard it was going to be for Duo to stay inside for that long. So he challenged him. "I bet Duo can't make it until then. I bet he will try to peak a bit." he egged Duo.
"Yes I can too! Just you watch Heero! I can too keep my nose out of my surprise until you give them to me. I won't step one foot out the door unless one of you escort me out." Duo stated proudly, then he realized that he had promised not to do what he want to do the most. "Damn you guys!" he said in a sulk.
"Don't worry Duo. Unlike Heero I believe you can make it with out too much trouble. After all Quatre has to stay in also. And just so you know the TV has been modified to only get Earth news and anything with our location has been blocked by a program that Heero and I worked on. There are several other subjects that are blocked to give you more dead clues." Trowa grinned. "The rest of us have to finish your presents.
Duo was shocked that his friends would go so far for him. He already knew that Quatre was secretly rebuilding Wufei's colony, using the Mag corps as man power. He also knew that the colony would be done long before Wu's next birthday. Quatre and Heero were going through old records trying to find any living family members of the lost souls. He was building it exactly like the old one with just a few changes. The Chang's buildings were done more in the ancient style of building and the decorations were from the earth branch of the family. They knew who their leader was but since he had no idea that they were alive, they had a leader proxy until Wufei could fill the position or appoint a new proxy. Duo had spent many hours with Quatre's builders and insisted on an area for outcasts and street children. These were mostly simply much simpler and build just like a box with a door. Trowa was planning a routine that was oriental and was planning it out with the troupe.
Duo's thoughts went suddenly to Quatre. "You are stuck here with me?" he asked socked.
"Don't be so surprised. If I go out then a million paparazzi are going to hunt me down and I will be all over the media. This trip was also supposed to be a chance to catch up on my rest and relax." Quatre replied subdued.
"I feel for ya man but at least I am a bit better off. I only have to wait a few days then freedom will be mine. But you have to stay here the whole time?"
"Not exactly. But in two days time you will see. Now while the others go out let's ring up room service and satisfy both our sweet tooth." Quatre ventured.
"You have got a deal. Do you think they will make those Earth snacks with gram crackers, chocolate and marshmallows. Or maybe the Fluffer-nutter sandwich? Or maybe vanilla custard with caramel, chocolate, sprinkles, butterscotch, and whipped cream on top?" Duo asked excitedly as the rest but Quatre, flinched at the overdose of sugar their two friends would be consuming in less than a day. Quatre laughed and then grinned.
"If they don't, I know how to get them to make it." he cackled evilly.
Duo grinned he loved it when Quat went Zero on somebody else than him and the others... It was oddly fun to watch.
0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0
Heero had grabbed his cell phone and the slip of paper with Tria's number on it. He flipped open his phone and called the number and told her and her band to meet him outside the bar he had met her at. When he arrived he saw the whole band sitting on the curb near a beat up van. Tria saw him first.
"Yo! Soldja boy! Knew it was you! So you gonna tell us where we kippin at?" she said with in a teasing tone.
"Well, if one of your band mates will drive your van and the others make sure you don't peak at where we are going I will show ya." He replied in a serious manner.
"You aren't shittin me are you?" she asked stunned.
"Nope. Now if one of you guys will get her in the van and blindfold her then we can go on our way." he instructed.
Her band mates did as he asked with a grin on their face. For once they were going to pull the wool over her eyes... literally.
It wasn't even a half hour drive before Heero parked in front of a church. The van pulled up behind them. The band members brought out Tria still with her eyes covered. He moved her to the desired spot and nodded to her band slowly and they undid the blindfold.
Tria gasped, it was the old church. It was – It looked the same - . A dozen similar thoughts ran through her head. "It can't be! How can it look the same?" She asked stunned.
"You know Quatre Winner?" Heero asked.
"Yeah. - Wait do you mean? that Duo has be sippin tea with the nobles!" she said surprised.
"Not that way. He and Duo met during the wars and are friends. Quatre was the one who thought of improving L-2 as a surprise for Duo five years ago. Since then Duo has heard no news coming out of L-2 since then. And since Duo's self proclaimed birthday is in three days, Quatre thought now was the perfect time to give Duo his deepest wish. A better life for those on L-2." Heero said warmly
"If that is what all Nobles are like then we need more of 'em. But Most Nobles here are worth s**t and think they own the place."
"Quatre is of a different breed of Nobles that is entirely of his own."
"You make this kid sound special."
"In away he kind of is. He took me and the others in after the war and taught us to be human. I am not exaggerating when I say that if it wasn't for Quatre I would be dead by suicide. He took the time to get us used to being human. It took us years to learn but I don't think there is anyone with better than patience than him. Ask Duo when you see him. He will tell you all about Quatre and then some."
"Wish there were more of him. The world would be better ten fold." Tria said wistfully.
"I don't" Heero said suddenly.
"Why is that Soldja boy?" she asked sharply.
"Because he gives too much of himself. He needs to be more selfish He would give you his leg if he thought you needed better ones without a second thought and for free. We have had to literally kidnap him form work so he wouldn't over work himself and get pneumonia or something worse." He explained
"I can see how that would be a bad thing. People would take advantage of his kindness and -" Tria stopped. She didn't want to think like that. This was the boy who was getting L2 up to better standards, all for the sake of a friend.
"The church is going to be an orphanage. And it is going to be here for at least the next fifty years with out having to worry about paying rent and utilities. All the church and orphanage has to worry about is food expenses."
Tria took a good look around again and noticed the large yard and gardens. "I wish this place existed when I was on the streets. One day in there and I would have been made for life. Is Quatre Winner really this serious about all this. It isn't just a big joke." she asked scared that it was too much.
"Nope. It has all been paid for and it is all real." Heero reassured the girl.
~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~
It had taken three hours after everybody had gotten back to peel Quatre off the ceiling and Duo out of the tub. They still hadn't figured out How Quatre got ON the ceiling and Why Duo was in the tub, except for the phrase "Don't eat the burrito." After that Quatre was happy being a cat and 'purred' every time somebody 'petted' him Trowa was having fun with that while Wufei had purposely made a stack of burritos, just to scare the crap out of Duo. Heero was busy trying to find a way to keep Wufei from Duo and Duo from seeing the stack of burritos. Then again it may have been a movie called Killer Burritos that scared Duo. Heero had found the case on top of the DVD player.
Eventually the two exhausted their sugar high and fell asleep. Quatre on Trowa's lap and Duo between the couch and the wall. The rest gave weary sighs if they were lucky the two would wake up late in the afternoon. They were surprised that Duo hadn't built a bomb out of the microwave or that Quatre hadn't devised a series of strategical traps and had Duo put traps there... but that was still a possibility.
It took them hours to find and disarm all traps leading to the bathroom and the bathroom. Not to mention the beds. All the three companions knew was that tomorrow was gonna be the end of their hell.
They were lucky that Duo and Quatre were still sleeping when they all left the next morning. Trowa left little clues all over the suite taking each clue to another it was and endless search that would take hours but it was better than them eating unrefined sugar.
When they got back the living room and hallway leading to it was booby trapped to hell and back with yarn. It took them roughly three hours to just get five feet into the room. It wasn't until Heero threatened to shoot the two responsible did the yarn trap suddenly come untangled.. They saw Quatre holding the single thread that was the breaking point. He had a sheepish look on his face. It wasn't until they saw Duo in the kitchen making dinner did they see that there was five cartons of ice cream and double that in syrups. Since Duo was the sane one they had thought that Quatre had eaten most of it but when they saw what Duo was making they quickly came to the fact that Quatre was the sane one. Who the Hell would eat Ice Creamed Spaghetti.
That night Quatre and Duo were watching more movies and were laying on the couch feet towards the armrests. Quatre was already bored with the movie and was feeling up to chatting.
"Duo?" Quatre asked in a small voice.
"Yeah?" said as he rolled over to look at his friend more clearly.
"Do you ever miss the old days?" Quatre asked.
"What do you mean?" Duo responded confused at the question.
"The war. We were useful then. Nobody else could do our jobs back then. We were the only people who had the highest chance of succeeding." Quatre said in a small voice.
"I know. There are times. But when I think about what we were doing. Creating death, and destruction, and killing mothers and fathers, leaving behind their children. I feel sick. What I am doing today, with the Sweepers, makes me feel as if I am doing something useful." Duo said with a slight smile on his face.
"Yeah but if we were to disappear from the world. Somebody of today would fill our spots and the world would go on existing without us. It scares me." Quatre said his voice shaking in slight fear.
"I guess put like that it makes one feel small and useless. But Quatre with the reconstruction of the colony, I guess you will live on." Duo reasoned.
"I know, you will too. Dragon 5, will be a lovely colony. So Yeah I guess I'll live on and so will Wufei. But what about you, Trowa, and Heero? It feels like by remembering me and Wufei Heero and Trowa will be lost in the stream of time. Releena will always be remembered on as the constant voice of peace during the war but the rest of them will be forgotten." Quatre thought aloud.
"Quatre. To me it doesn't matter. Living here and now matters. Remembering the past is okay. But the past is history and thus will be a story for all future generations. Somebody will eventually get the full story down." Duo said in a voice that was filled with confidence. Maybe they wouldn't be forgotten.
"You know what? I think Heero, during the war, wasn't just doing mission reports. I think he was doing a daily journal. I've seen his computer. There are several restricted files that are protected. I could hack them but I've seen Heero's reports and they are very accurate. Imagine what he was doing typing for hours on end." Quatre said in a slightly accusing voice
"What do you mean? That he was writing a journal about our lives?" Duo said with a large grin.
"Maybe." Quatre replied with the same grin.
The two grinned at each other and returned to watching the movie.
~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~
The next morning Trowa was up first. He was looking forward to seeing the new colony with his two friends. He couldn't wait to see Duo's face when he saw where they were. He got the others up and grabbed the first shower of the day.
Quatre woke fast when Wufei shook his shoulder. Quatre grinned at him and went to grab the shower. He knew it would be free since Wufei's hair was still damp. He dressed in a pair of black jeans and white t-shirt and a black vest.
Wufei then woke Duo up five minutes after he did Quatre.
"What is it 'Fei?" Duo yawned out slowly.
"The day you can go out and enjoy the world. You and Quatre are free in a few hours. Heero already went out to get the last details in order." Wufei stated as if it was nothing new.
Duo took a moment to realize the he would be free soon. "Yes! I mean really? I'll be free? So Will Quat?"
"Yeah. Now go get a shower. Quatre should be out in a bit." Wufei said as he went to start breakfast.
~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~
Heero had left as soon as Trowa woke him. He had to make sure the press and Dehem was ready, well if Tria ready to see the supposed last survivor of the Maxwell Incident. He called the press first. He told them there would be two public announcements at the old Maxwell Church and he gave them the address of the orphanage and requested that they limit themselves to one reporter to each location. They didn't want the places filled with hundreds of reporters. He told them that that WEI was going to make sure that each place would be seen live on each station, Colony news and Earth and that if they wanted they could tap a microphone on each of their reporters so they could voice over the events.
He was at the New Maxwell church by the time he was done and went to let the Band and Tria know what would be happening. It was by then that the WEI camera men came driving up with a line of minivans. Heero smiled when as soon as the vans stopped children came spilling out gawking at their new 'home' and the gardens. They were even more happy when the last two vans opened the doors and out raced a few dogs and people came out with cats. The Nuns and priests came out last enjoying the smiles and laughs from the children. The head priest cam up to Heero.
"Hello Mr. Yuy. I am Simon. When will the press be here?"
"In about three hours. Enough time to get the children situated. With the news coverage. The children should be adopted in less than a month. You will have WEI's resources when it comes to looking at the history of the people who come to adopt. All you'll have to worry about is food expenses. For the next fifty years the bills will be paid for by Quatre. Just worry about saving up money for when that time comes. Oh yeah. There is a small apartment building on the lands that is for the children who are too old to be adopted but old enough to work." Heero said with a kind smile.
"I will thank Mr. Winner when I see him. He is truly a god sent." Simon said surprised at what all had been done.
"Just wait till next year. There is going to be a new colony dedicated to the old clans of L-5."
"Truly? He has done so much. When does he do something for himself?"
"Never. He does all these amazing things for his friends and family. But never has he done anything for himself. We have a hard time doing anything for him."
"Well if you ever need anything don't be afraid to ask us for help."
"We will. Now lets get the Camera's set up and start taping the kids."
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It wasn't long before everything was set up. Quatre and Duo were free. Quatre smiled and pushed Duo outside. "Welcome Duo to L-2." Quatre said as he let Duo take in the surprise. For right in front of them was the Maxwell monument.
Duo couldn't believe his eyes. It was L-2 but better. He looked at Quatre. How could he have kept this a secret? IT was too big to hide. But he suddenly remembered all the Sweepers would take the L-2 assignments before he could even see them. But this monument was amazing. How Quatre had done it he didn't know.
He saw Quatre walk in front of the monument and a swarm of reporters started asking questions but Quatre only raised his hands as a sign to be quiet.
"This is a monument recognizing the loss of innocent children who lost their lives when a group of mercenaries played both sides of the war. It also recognizes the survivors and the fallen. It tells what happened that day. Take time later to look at it. Today I have plans and that takes us-" It was all Duo heard before the reporters all shouted questions at his friend. Though not moments later Quatre was back at his side.
"How did you do all this?" Duo asked flabbergasted.
"Well it took a lot of work... But there is more and then you have the rest of your mini vacation to explore the rebirth of L-2. I admit keeping it from you was really hard. But there is a bigger secret that you must see. It is today's second present. After that we have one more." Quatre said breathlessly.
"Well alright. You must have spent a fortune."
"Don't worry about it... Let's just get to the car before the fools realize that it's a body double."
Duo laughed. If it was one thing Quatre did not like it was reporters. They ran to the car that was waiting and drove to where Duo's second present laid waiting.
Duo watched the surroundings that were once familiar and once abandoned turn into a thriving colony. It was amazing what changes. People were smiling and the buildings were well kept and he could see what a difference it made. Shanties were now small one story houses the children looked well fed and well clothed. It was everything he could have hoped for.
A large field of grass laid on both sides of the road and a house he knew was a mansion seemed to be creeping up in front of them. He saw children laughing and nuns and priests laughing with them. His mind grew suspicious. "Quatre?"
Quatre laughed. He knew what Duo was thinking. Once again Quatre beamed at his friends and smiled "Duo welcome to the Maxwell Home for the Children." he said as he watched his friends expressions.
Duo looked sharply at his blond friend. "Quatre you didn't. You did all this?" He couldn't believe it. This was his dream come to reality. An orphanage for children. But this was more. He hadn't expected Quatre to find an area large enough for a big yard and lots of rooms.
"Not all. Heero has his present to give. Now that is really gonna make you cry." Quatre said in a sly voice.
Duo sighed. This was all a lot to take in. He now knew that the rest of the gang was in on the secret too as soon as he saw Trowa's troupe come in and play with the kids. He knew that several of these kids would eventually end up as troupe members when he saw that gleam in several of the children's eyes. He saw Nuns and Priests taking time to learn about the children and settling more than one fight between them. He knew that if Sister Helen and Father Maxwell had the money they would have built a place exactly like it.
He saw Quatre talking to the news camera and answering reporters questions. Most of them ,he heard, had asked why a multi-billionaire would spend his time and money doing something that no one else would do. Duo loved Quatre's answer. "Why should it matter if I have money or if I don't, It's Everybody's job to look after children and see that they have a healthy childhood in both body and spirit. If I hadn't stepped up...who would. After all I always help children when I can...it's more than I can say for L-2's past...but thats what a future is for. And by making sure these children have a future L-2 has a future. Now if you'll excuse me...I believe I have children to get to know and play with." It was all said with a meaningful tone that Duo's heart went to his friend and he vowed to find a way to repay Quatre.
Quatre went inside and got to know some of the more adventurous kids that went ahead to see what was inside. He was happy to see that the slide show, that Wufei prepared was currently being projected on a pure white wall. He was surprised to see a few nuns and not too few children watching it. He was even more surprised that one of the people seemed to know who and what each picture was.
"You see this picture was taken When Duo had just gotten here. He wouldn't stand still for nobody always looking for father Maxwell to throw him out like much other orphanages had. But Father knew better. He saw the hurt of the past and the challenge to show Duo that everybody needed love. Father was right. Duo soon became a protector of the children there from the street and school bullies. I can never forget Duo standing in front of a bully in school and mind you Duo was not much taller than a lot of the Little's here but he punched that bully straight in the nose and knocked him down. It was after that Duo got the name 'Maxwell's Demon' after all nobody had that much spunk to do that, even in school where we should have been safe but weren't."
Quatre smiled it seemed Tria knew how to get past every child's inner shield that told them to run and get away before they were hurt. Quatre felt their fears much stronger that most adults because he also knew what some of their fear were as he had them when he was little. Quatre found Heero and gathered Tria from the children. It was time to give Duo his last present. A friend long thought dead.
As they walked out Heero didn't waste any time. He had spent the last two hours getting Tria ready to meet Duo. He pulled Tria to Duo and waited for Duo to say something, but Tria said something first.
"Hello Duo"
"um, Hi?" he said back unsure of who she was. He had a nagging feeling he knew her... but not from where. "Do I know you?"
"You used to. You were really a beast back when we were kids. Always trying to picks fights with Father to get him to throw you out. It made you so mad when he wouldn't. But you never ran because you knew he cared."
"How did you know that!" Duo whispered in a small voice. Not even his friends knew that.
"I was there. Especially after Solo died from the plague and you got caught by Father stealing food."
"There was only one other survivor from the plague Trianna? How did you survive?"
"I wasn't there. Father let me stay at a friends house the night before. It wasn't until I heard the sirens and the shouting that I returned home only to find it gone. I thought you were buried in the rubble but there were so many children that couldn't be identified because of the burns. I thought I was the only survivor until Soldier boy here told me you were alive."
"So all this time you were alive? I have so many questions." Duo asked excitedly.
Tria smiled a fox's grin."Those are all going to have to wait. You should see this place. I wish it was here when I was little. I think it may have turned around a lot of lives."
Duo smiled back."I agree. If We knew that such a place existed I think it would have made living easier because we would have gone straight here if we knew it existed."
"Well they have an army of preacher folk that are supposed to go into town daily and pick kids off the streets and offer them homes here."Tria explained as she got Duo to help figure out who among the children could be recruited to play harmless jokes on the Priests and Nuns.
Trowa laughed as some of the kids fell in love with the troupe and he smiled when some of the Troupe got that look that meant they may have more members of the Troupe to look after. But he had more fun just watching some of the children's antics to try and join now. They were saddened when the Troupe said no... But brightened up when they said maybe in a few years. But they made each kid promise that even if they were going to join they still had to go to school so they better do good in school other wise they couldn't join.
He had brought a Lion that had been born into captivity and was closer to becoming a large house cat rather than a ferocious lion. When he brought her out many of the children backed away but when they saw Trowa and the Lion playing just like it's smaller cousin they fell in love and 'helped' play with her. He had also explained to the reporters that this cats family from her great-great-great grand-kitties had been raised by zoos and other circus ans was actually registered much father back than most purebred lines of cats did they relax and mention it in their reports.
He actually had a fright when one of the children had somehow gotten on top of a tool shed and was scared to come down. He looked at his lioness and looked at the kid. She walked towards the child and with a little effort had the child's pant hem in her mouth and jumped to the ground. That was the final straw that broke most of the other children's fear of her and they smothered her with hugs and kisses. He was also the one who told the children how to take care of their new pets and how to train them.
By the end of the day he had both Kids and their pets trained to a 'T' . He was happy and shared his opinion of them vacationing here during their off weeks to help with the children. The Nuns also were in high favor with it.
Heero smiled back to the others. This was the first time in a very long time that Duo's smile wasn't hidden behind some facade or joke. The look on his face was pure happiness. And Heero knew that it wouldn't be long before Wufei would be given his present and would have the same look. Heero grabbed a camera and started taking pictures of everything. He Knew that Duo would be regretting not taking pictures so he fulfilled that role. Getting at least on picture of every child as well as a group picture at the end. He smiled as he patted his coat pocket there were five rolls of film that need to be developed and he was gonna be damned if he didn't get them developed professionally, these memories were much too important than that.
Wufei was having fun. After he set up the slide show he went out side to play with the children it was the most fun he had in the longest time. Playing tag, hid-and-go-seek, make-believe and other variations of some games he played as a child. But his highlight came from a small little girl. She refused to let go of his hand and would start crying if he wasn't holding her hand. It made some of the games more difficult to play but other children would sometimes overlook the two of them for a bit more challenging prey and when they were it they made sure they had boundaries set up so it would be much easier to catch someone.
Duo watched his friends and children have fun. It was a life he wished he could have had when he was little. But thinking upon it he wouldn't have changed a thing. If he could he decided that would be being more of a loving child to Father Maxwell and Sister Helen. But that was the only thing because if he changed anything else he would never have had the chance to meet the people he would gladly call family.
"So Duo you ready to come home?" Tria asked in a quiet voice.
Duo knew she meant L2 but something in him told him that L2 would always be there for him, His five friends- no make that his family is where he wanted to be no matter what happened. They had been there through all the tough time in the war and had become brother in more than arms but in blood. "Yeah I'm ready. My family needs me more than I need to be here." he answered in a far away tone.
Tria looked at him confused.
Duo eventually looked over at her. "L2 will always be a home for me but it will always be here. MY brothers need me more than I need L2, Tria. But I still have a few weeks to spend here. He said the last part smiling with such joy she had never seen on him as a child. She smiled as well. "Well Duo Maxwell. I Guess I have to get the band to be famous after all Dehem was actually D M meaning Duo Maxwell. Cause you were the only 'family' I had ever known and thought I had lost. The rest of the members decided to spell it out. Giving us a unique name. You'll hear from us over the year Duo... Just remember your roots." She said understanding why he needed to be with his brothers.
"Never forgot them. They made what I am today. You never forget something like that." He said with a huge Maxwell grin on his face.
Tria looked at him and smiled. She knew that Duo hadn't been inside the building yet. So she pulled him in and it seemed that fate had just restarted the slide show when Duo walked in and watched the opening slides. He learned that Wufei had found the pictures in a fire proof safe where the old Maxwell orphanage stood and put them together in a slide show. Duo silently thanked him as tears threatened to escape from his eyes. He watched as the first picture he saw was of Father Maxwell's smiling a huge grin at the camera. Duo stood shocked. Somehow the person who took the picture had gotten just the right moment and it was either the setting of the artificial light or the rising of it. Making Father Maxwell seem like an angel holding his hand out showing everything would be fine. It was a smile and presence that he missed. Silent tears ran down Duo's face as he smiled he in return knowing that where ever Father Maxwell and Sister Helen were they knew he would be okay.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Maya: So tell me was it any good? Cause I really only had wriiten one line in a notebook that had basically said 'Quatre gives L2 to Duo for a birthday present.' I thought what else could I do with that line? SOOOOO with my sister occasionally reading over it, she gave me the thumbs up and that was MONTHS ago... Please let me know what you think... I HOPE everyone likes it... If you find mistakes or something that doesn't make sense PLEASE let me know. CONSTUCTIVE critism is well taken.
It had been five years after the Marimara incident and the end of the war. All the Gundam pilots had went their separate ways. Quatre to take over his father's company. Trowa to his sister and the circus. Duo to the sweepers. Heero to protect the new system of peace by protecting Vice Minister Releena Peacecraft as her head of security. Wufei was the only one to fully join the Preventors organization. The others had also joined as part time Preventors.
In truth the only two that were seen were in pictures and maybe Trowa in circus ads. But the two were Quatre the prominently famous bachelor and multi-billionaire of the L-4 family. He was in the papers daily. The other that was seen in photographs was Heero, being Releena's head of security and main body guard was often caught in his black suit and sunglasses.
After the five year mark Heero handed Releena's safety to the Preventor's organization, opting for the more exciting field assignments. After that Heero practically disappeared from the world's eyes and Releena made sure that nothing would appear in the papers. The five Gundam pilots were still mysterious and unmasked to the public.
Quatre was desperately trying to transfer an even amount of his workload from him to all his 29 sisters. Thus giving him free time away from the office to socialize. He was mostly concerned with looking for dirty business and forcibly ruining them. Most he ruined were selling black market weapons or trying to sell Moblie Suits. He also carefully monitored his Companies ties and where his money was going to and why. In truth this was more tiring than his role at WEI and it was beginning to show. But Quatre was also investing in the rebirth of the L-2 colony and making it a true colony rather than a street rat prison. Of course Duo had never been told of Quatre's interjections on the Colony. More importance Quatre had been working on rebuilding the Maxwell Church and trying to find out the real truth behind it. He was not at all surprised that it was a rebel fraction not connected to White Fang or the Order of the Zodiac. In truth they had been no better than bandits, playing both sides.
After he found that out, he set about on finding the original blueprints of the building and moving it to a better area with a nice field for kids to play in. He asked the Sweepers to keep Duo off L-2 for about 2 years. And in truth Duo hadn't returned to L-2 since the wars. He set up The Maxwell Monument where the original building had stood and wrote it's history down listing the dead that had been found and more importantly survivors. Duo didn't know that he wasn't the only survivor. There was a girl that had been playing at a friends house that day.
That in itself had been a challenge to locate the girl, who was no longer a girl. From what he had found out she had been part of the gang of kids that Duo had ran with before being caught by Father Maxwell. She had taken after Duo, a little cat with too much energy and a knack for getting in and out of mischief. It had been Trowa who had found her. It turned out she was in a band called Dehem as far as he could tell. He had Trowa recruit her for Duo's self given Birthday that was coming up in less than a week.
"Hello this is Taco Bell, May I take you Order Please." said a teasing voice into the phone.
"Sure I would like the Maxwell Surprise number one-fifteen." a voice answered back.
"Heyalla Blondie! So whatcha been up ta?"
"Well I will be visiting the Sweepers in the next few days. I thought we could go out for your birthday Duo."
"But Q My b-day ain't more than one week away. What are you plannin on, you charmer you." Duo teased.
"Well pick me up at the port today at noon your time. Pack about two weeks of clothes and don't eat. Once you pick me up, I have other plans for the two of us." Quatre laughed at Duo's nickname of Charmer. "If I am right you have the next month off. Am I right?"
"Quat! I can't believe you! You arranged my time off! I thought Howard was bein Generous or somtin. Man I neva suspected you of all people but I should have known. You Sly Fox!" Duo said trying to convict his friend of harmless schedule plotting.
"If it makes you feel better Duo, this has been planned for about three months." Quatre said trying to rectify his mistake.
"Naw it's okay... I think. Anyway I bet you are on one of your Shuttles right?"
"Yeah. If I can convince the pilot to let me fly I may be there in an hour or two." Quatre said decreasing his time by nearly four hours.
"Hehe you never change. I always thought I was the only one for the need for speed in the group." Duo laughed. He had forgotten how much Quatre loved getting an adrenaline rush from speeding.
Quatre chuckled back and then whooped in joy. "Hey Duo see ya in about 2 hours!" and he hung up the phone.
An hour and a half later the Winner Shuttle landed at the shuttle port. Duo was there waiting for him. Quatre rushed up to Duo and gave him a great big hug. Which Duo returned gratefully.
"So Quat, what is next?" Duo questioned the blond. All he got for an answer was a grin.
"Wait here. I wanna check on something." Quatre asked politely.
"Sure thing."
Quatre rushed off to the flight control tower.
"Is my second shuttle here?"
"Aye it is now if you want to be heading off, the next five minutes is the perfect time. We already cleared the flight plan and set the shuttle on auto pilot. It should be okay until you need to dock." the Flight Control responded.
"Great. I will get going as soon as I can get to the shuttle."
"Gods Speed to you, Mr. Winner."
Quatre left and ran down back to Duo. He didn't explain but grabbed Duo's wrist and pulled him to the second shuttle. He climbed into the cockpit. "W-2 ready to fly."
"W-2 this is Flight, you are cleared and ready for launch."
"Copy W-2 out."
Quatre got his shuttle to space and locked the cockpit with a voice activation password.
"Okay Quatre gonna explain to me why I was practically kidnapped?" Duo said getting a bit miffed that He hadn't been told a single thing as to the plans.
"Nope. But you will be seeing the others soon. And Maybe an old friend or two." Quatre stated mysteriously.
It was then that Duo noticed that this shuttle had no windows at all. He couldn't tell where he was going.
"Quatre..." Duo said warningly.
"Duo I told you. This is for your birthday. Please don't make me ruin the surprise. Take a nap or I can sedate you. I brought several movies that haven't been released yet. They are supposed to be scary... Your forte so give a review on them to the Producers. Just keep yourself busy." Quatre pleaded and used his only available weapon, his eyes. He did the puppy eyes with a cute pout and a slight sniffle for effect. Duo never lasted thirty seconds against it. And now was no different. Duo caved in in less than fifteen. Quatre went back to the cockpit and made a few calls.
~0~
Wufei was laughing he had heard the tantrum that Duo had thrown from Quatre and gave his report and what time they would be there.
"That should give us plenty of time. Trowa even got the whole circus here for the two week period, which means that his present is some sort of act. But also Cathrine will be here too. Heero has gone to find that girl Trowa found. I have covered up the Maxwell Monument and building. Though the orphans should be arriving soon as well as the Nuns and Priests to raise them. The Maxwell Home and Church is fully stocked in toys and food. They even have some pets being transferred in. I also prepared a slide show of old Maxwell pictures. I have the originals in a photo album. Duo will like it. But you had better blindfold him before you leave the shuttle. He hasn't had any news from L2 in 5 years and improvements will surprise him. Anyway everything is ready now. I will pick you up in five hours." Wufei reported back.
"See you then." Quatre said in a grateful voice.
~0~
Heero had no trouble locating the group Dehem. He found them getting ready to perform at a local bar. He waited until they had finished hours later to confront them. He gave the stage hands a note that simply stated Solo and Duo. It would only mean something to the girl he was looking for. He waited near the stage.
The stage hands passed the note to the band faithfully. It passed through each member's hand until it reached the main singer's. Her hand shook when she read the three words on it. The rest of the band looked at her curiously. She went out on stage and asked around until one of the hands pointed to a boy at the edge of the stage. She hopped down and appeared at his side.
"You sent this note?" she hissed angrily.
"It was me." Heero replied humorously.
"Well big shot I wont have ya martyr their names. What the hell ya up to?" she demanded.
"Martyr? I have no need to do that. Those words would mean nothing unless you knew the both of them personally. It was meaningless to any others reading it making it perfect for getting you out to talk."
"They are both dead! Solo died from a so called vaccine but was a poison. It was used to control street trash. Duo died in the Maxwell Church incident. But now thanks to big companies the land is to be made into a major Company headquarters." she shot back acidly at him.
Heero glared at her. In truth the lights had been dim and now with the lights back on he could see her clearly. She had had those same damned eyes as Duo and had a hue or two lighter than Quatre's blond hair. She had a nicely honed body that spoke of a female fighter.
"Duo isn't dead. He became Shinigami." Heero said in a low voice.
"Shinin- Duo did! Wha- HOW!" she asked with a dreadfully hopeful voice.
Heero noticed. "His motto is, I may run and hide but I never tell a lie. He has those same eyes as you do and keeps his hair in a braid. He wouldn't let anyone cut it including Sister Helen and it became symbolic to him. Does that convince you?"
"Ye-ah it does. By the way name is Tria. You are?"
"Heero Yuy."
"No s**t? Named after a famous colony pacifist." she said thoughtfully
"Nope no s**t." Heero grinned a toothy grin.
"So what was your purpose for taking me aside soldier." she said in a dangerous grin. Heero was surprised. " Oh don't look to surprised. It was ya stance and that ya keep gazin the room over lookin for threats." she explained.
Heero smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that, habit. To business, I have a surprise birthday for a friend coming home to L2 soon. Thing is we kept in the dark about EVERYTHING on L-2 so he doesn't even know that L2 is considered 300% better than 10 years ago. Well I suppose That is all I can say." he shrugged
"I bet that since you cornered me it is for Duo?" She guessed vaguely
"Damn."
Tria laughed. "Don't take much Sherlock. Sure no problem Ya gonna house me and the band until the day?"
"No problem. That is the least of our worries. It's more of trying to keep everything under wraps from Duo." Heero sighed.
"Well I gotta tell meh band that we gotta job for about a week." she said as she walked away then stopped. "She wrote something down on the note. "Here. Contact me use in this number by tomorrow by noon and tell us where we are kippin at." she said as she tossed it to Heero.
"got it."
0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0
Quatre had been holed up in that gods be damned cockpit. Quatre knew very well that Duo couldn't get past the voice passwords. But If Quatre didn't show up soon then Duo was going to take apart the panel wall and short circuit it. Just as he was going to get his knife out to unscrew the panel when the door opened. And Quatre stepped outside the cockpit. He gave Duo the blindfold and tied it securely around Duo's eyes. He also put earplug in Duo's ears he made Duo sit down and wait.
Quatre went back into he cockpit and docked the shuttle. He made the flight plan for 16 day from then. He directed Duo out of the shuttle and into Wufei's waiting car.
Duo was annoyed. He didn't know where the ******** he was and he wanted to see. Not being able to see reminding him of that gods be damned room on the ******** moon. And don't even get him started on not hearing.
When they arrived at the hotel Duo still blindfolded, was led to an inner room where there was no windows. It was then that Quatre let Duo take it off after a moment of leaving his side and running into his line of sight. Duo carefully removed the blindfold, keeping his eyes closed after taking it off and when he opened them he saw Quatre with his old friends. Duo was surprised. He hadn't expect all of them to get time off at the same time. He gave a wide smile. "Ya know ya guys you could have come and invaded my place ya know? My birthday is three days away ya know. Where are we by the way?" he asked as he looked around trying to figure where he was.
"Now that would be telling Maxwell" Wufei replied with a wide grin.
"Yup, now you have to stay inside for two days. On the morning of the third day we go to show you your presents. You will like them. They have been in plan for about five years now." Quatre explained.
Heero knew how hard it was going to be for Duo to stay inside for that long. So he challenged him. "I bet Duo can't make it until then. I bet he will try to peak a bit." he egged Duo.
"Yes I can too! Just you watch Heero! I can too keep my nose out of my surprise until you give them to me. I won't step one foot out the door unless one of you escort me out." Duo stated proudly, then he realized that he had promised not to do what he want to do the most. "Damn you guys!" he said in a sulk.
"Don't worry Duo. Unlike Heero I believe you can make it with out too much trouble. After all Quatre has to stay in also. And just so you know the TV has been modified to only get Earth news and anything with our location has been blocked by a program that Heero and I worked on. There are several other subjects that are blocked to give you more dead clues." Trowa grinned. "The rest of us have to finish your presents.
Duo was shocked that his friends would go so far for him. He already knew that Quatre was secretly rebuilding Wufei's colony, using the Mag corps as man power. He also knew that the colony would be done long before Wu's next birthday. Quatre and Heero were going through old records trying to find any living family members of the lost souls. He was building it exactly like the old one with just a few changes. The Chang's buildings were done more in the ancient style of building and the decorations were from the earth branch of the family. They knew who their leader was but since he had no idea that they were alive, they had a leader proxy until Wufei could fill the position or appoint a new proxy. Duo had spent many hours with Quatre's builders and insisted on an area for outcasts and street children. These were mostly simply much simpler and build just like a box with a door. Trowa was planning a routine that was oriental and was planning it out with the troupe.
Duo's thoughts went suddenly to Quatre. "You are stuck here with me?" he asked socked.
"Don't be so surprised. If I go out then a million paparazzi are going to hunt me down and I will be all over the media. This trip was also supposed to be a chance to catch up on my rest and relax." Quatre replied subdued.
"I feel for ya man but at least I am a bit better off. I only have to wait a few days then freedom will be mine. But you have to stay here the whole time?"
"Not exactly. But in two days time you will see. Now while the others go out let's ring up room service and satisfy both our sweet tooth." Quatre ventured.
"You have got a deal. Do you think they will make those Earth snacks with gram crackers, chocolate and marshmallows. Or maybe the Fluffer-nutter sandwich? Or maybe vanilla custard with caramel, chocolate, sprinkles, butterscotch, and whipped cream on top?" Duo asked excitedly as the rest but Quatre, flinched at the overdose of sugar their two friends would be consuming in less than a day. Quatre laughed and then grinned.
"If they don't, I know how to get them to make it." he cackled evilly.
Duo grinned he loved it when Quat went Zero on somebody else than him and the others... It was oddly fun to watch.
0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0
Heero had grabbed his cell phone and the slip of paper with Tria's number on it. He flipped open his phone and called the number and told her and her band to meet him outside the bar he had met her at. When he arrived he saw the whole band sitting on the curb near a beat up van. Tria saw him first.
"Yo! Soldja boy! Knew it was you! So you gonna tell us where we kippin at?" she said with in a teasing tone.
"Well, if one of your band mates will drive your van and the others make sure you don't peak at where we are going I will show ya." He replied in a serious manner.
"You aren't shittin me are you?" she asked stunned.
"Nope. Now if one of you guys will get her in the van and blindfold her then we can go on our way." he instructed.
Her band mates did as he asked with a grin on their face. For once they were going to pull the wool over her eyes... literally.
It wasn't even a half hour drive before Heero parked in front of a church. The van pulled up behind them. The band members brought out Tria still with her eyes covered. He moved her to the desired spot and nodded to her band slowly and they undid the blindfold.
Tria gasped, it was the old church. It was – It looked the same - . A dozen similar thoughts ran through her head. "It can't be! How can it look the same?" She asked stunned.
"You know Quatre Winner?" Heero asked.
"Yeah. - Wait do you mean? that Duo has be sippin tea with the nobles!" she said surprised.
"Not that way. He and Duo met during the wars and are friends. Quatre was the one who thought of improving L-2 as a surprise for Duo five years ago. Since then Duo has heard no news coming out of L-2 since then. And since Duo's self proclaimed birthday is in three days, Quatre thought now was the perfect time to give Duo his deepest wish. A better life for those on L-2." Heero said warmly
"If that is what all Nobles are like then we need more of 'em. But Most Nobles here are worth s**t and think they own the place."
"Quatre is of a different breed of Nobles that is entirely of his own."
"You make this kid sound special."
"In away he kind of is. He took me and the others in after the war and taught us to be human. I am not exaggerating when I say that if it wasn't for Quatre I would be dead by suicide. He took the time to get us used to being human. It took us years to learn but I don't think there is anyone with better than patience than him. Ask Duo when you see him. He will tell you all about Quatre and then some."
"Wish there were more of him. The world would be better ten fold." Tria said wistfully.
"I don't" Heero said suddenly.
"Why is that Soldja boy?" she asked sharply.
"Because he gives too much of himself. He needs to be more selfish He would give you his leg if he thought you needed better ones without a second thought and for free. We have had to literally kidnap him form work so he wouldn't over work himself and get pneumonia or something worse." He explained
"I can see how that would be a bad thing. People would take advantage of his kindness and -" Tria stopped. She didn't want to think like that. This was the boy who was getting L2 up to better standards, all for the sake of a friend.
"The church is going to be an orphanage. And it is going to be here for at least the next fifty years with out having to worry about paying rent and utilities. All the church and orphanage has to worry about is food expenses."
Tria took a good look around again and noticed the large yard and gardens. "I wish this place existed when I was on the streets. One day in there and I would have been made for life. Is Quatre Winner really this serious about all this. It isn't just a big joke." she asked scared that it was too much.
"Nope. It has all been paid for and it is all real." Heero reassured the girl.
~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~
It had taken three hours after everybody had gotten back to peel Quatre off the ceiling and Duo out of the tub. They still hadn't figured out How Quatre got ON the ceiling and Why Duo was in the tub, except for the phrase "Don't eat the burrito." After that Quatre was happy being a cat and 'purred' every time somebody 'petted' him Trowa was having fun with that while Wufei had purposely made a stack of burritos, just to scare the crap out of Duo. Heero was busy trying to find a way to keep Wufei from Duo and Duo from seeing the stack of burritos. Then again it may have been a movie called Killer Burritos that scared Duo. Heero had found the case on top of the DVD player.
Eventually the two exhausted their sugar high and fell asleep. Quatre on Trowa's lap and Duo between the couch and the wall. The rest gave weary sighs if they were lucky the two would wake up late in the afternoon. They were surprised that Duo hadn't built a bomb out of the microwave or that Quatre hadn't devised a series of strategical traps and had Duo put traps there... but that was still a possibility.
It took them hours to find and disarm all traps leading to the bathroom and the bathroom. Not to mention the beds. All the three companions knew was that tomorrow was gonna be the end of their hell.
They were lucky that Duo and Quatre were still sleeping when they all left the next morning. Trowa left little clues all over the suite taking each clue to another it was and endless search that would take hours but it was better than them eating unrefined sugar.
When they got back the living room and hallway leading to it was booby trapped to hell and back with yarn. It took them roughly three hours to just get five feet into the room. It wasn't until Heero threatened to shoot the two responsible did the yarn trap suddenly come untangled.. They saw Quatre holding the single thread that was the breaking point. He had a sheepish look on his face. It wasn't until they saw Duo in the kitchen making dinner did they see that there was five cartons of ice cream and double that in syrups. Since Duo was the sane one they had thought that Quatre had eaten most of it but when they saw what Duo was making they quickly came to the fact that Quatre was the sane one. Who the Hell would eat Ice Creamed Spaghetti.
That night Quatre and Duo were watching more movies and were laying on the couch feet towards the armrests. Quatre was already bored with the movie and was feeling up to chatting.
"Duo?" Quatre asked in a small voice.
"Yeah?" said as he rolled over to look at his friend more clearly.
"Do you ever miss the old days?" Quatre asked.
"What do you mean?" Duo responded confused at the question.
"The war. We were useful then. Nobody else could do our jobs back then. We were the only people who had the highest chance of succeeding." Quatre said in a small voice.
"I know. There are times. But when I think about what we were doing. Creating death, and destruction, and killing mothers and fathers, leaving behind their children. I feel sick. What I am doing today, with the Sweepers, makes me feel as if I am doing something useful." Duo said with a slight smile on his face.
"Yeah but if we were to disappear from the world. Somebody of today would fill our spots and the world would go on existing without us. It scares me." Quatre said his voice shaking in slight fear.
"I guess put like that it makes one feel small and useless. But Quatre with the reconstruction of the colony, I guess you will live on." Duo reasoned.
"I know, you will too. Dragon 5, will be a lovely colony. So Yeah I guess I'll live on and so will Wufei. But what about you, Trowa, and Heero? It feels like by remembering me and Wufei Heero and Trowa will be lost in the stream of time. Releena will always be remembered on as the constant voice of peace during the war but the rest of them will be forgotten." Quatre thought aloud.
"Quatre. To me it doesn't matter. Living here and now matters. Remembering the past is okay. But the past is history and thus will be a story for all future generations. Somebody will eventually get the full story down." Duo said in a voice that was filled with confidence. Maybe they wouldn't be forgotten.
"You know what? I think Heero, during the war, wasn't just doing mission reports. I think he was doing a daily journal. I've seen his computer. There are several restricted files that are protected. I could hack them but I've seen Heero's reports and they are very accurate. Imagine what he was doing typing for hours on end." Quatre said in a slightly accusing voice
"What do you mean? That he was writing a journal about our lives?" Duo said with a large grin.
"Maybe." Quatre replied with the same grin.
The two grinned at each other and returned to watching the movie.
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The next morning Trowa was up first. He was looking forward to seeing the new colony with his two friends. He couldn't wait to see Duo's face when he saw where they were. He got the others up and grabbed the first shower of the day.
Quatre woke fast when Wufei shook his shoulder. Quatre grinned at him and went to grab the shower. He knew it would be free since Wufei's hair was still damp. He dressed in a pair of black jeans and white t-shirt and a black vest.
Wufei then woke Duo up five minutes after he did Quatre.
"What is it 'Fei?" Duo yawned out slowly.
"The day you can go out and enjoy the world. You and Quatre are free in a few hours. Heero already went out to get the last details in order." Wufei stated as if it was nothing new.
Duo took a moment to realize the he would be free soon. "Yes! I mean really? I'll be free? So Will Quat?"
"Yeah. Now go get a shower. Quatre should be out in a bit." Wufei said as he went to start breakfast.
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Heero had left as soon as Trowa woke him. He had to make sure the press and Dehem was ready, well if Tria ready to see the supposed last survivor of the Maxwell Incident. He called the press first. He told them there would be two public announcements at the old Maxwell Church and he gave them the address of the orphanage and requested that they limit themselves to one reporter to each location. They didn't want the places filled with hundreds of reporters. He told them that that WEI was going to make sure that each place would be seen live on each station, Colony news and Earth and that if they wanted they could tap a microphone on each of their reporters so they could voice over the events.
He was at the New Maxwell church by the time he was done and went to let the Band and Tria know what would be happening. It was by then that the WEI camera men came driving up with a line of minivans. Heero smiled when as soon as the vans stopped children came spilling out gawking at their new 'home' and the gardens. They were even more happy when the last two vans opened the doors and out raced a few dogs and people came out with cats. The Nuns and priests came out last enjoying the smiles and laughs from the children. The head priest cam up to Heero.
"Hello Mr. Yuy. I am Simon. When will the press be here?"
"In about three hours. Enough time to get the children situated. With the news coverage. The children should be adopted in less than a month. You will have WEI's resources when it comes to looking at the history of the people who come to adopt. All you'll have to worry about is food expenses. For the next fifty years the bills will be paid for by Quatre. Just worry about saving up money for when that time comes. Oh yeah. There is a small apartment building on the lands that is for the children who are too old to be adopted but old enough to work." Heero said with a kind smile.
"I will thank Mr. Winner when I see him. He is truly a god sent." Simon said surprised at what all had been done.
"Just wait till next year. There is going to be a new colony dedicated to the old clans of L-5."
"Truly? He has done so much. When does he do something for himself?"
"Never. He does all these amazing things for his friends and family. But never has he done anything for himself. We have a hard time doing anything for him."
"Well if you ever need anything don't be afraid to ask us for help."
"We will. Now lets get the Camera's set up and start taping the kids."
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It wasn't long before everything was set up. Quatre and Duo were free. Quatre smiled and pushed Duo outside. "Welcome Duo to L-2." Quatre said as he let Duo take in the surprise. For right in front of them was the Maxwell monument.
Duo couldn't believe his eyes. It was L-2 but better. He looked at Quatre. How could he have kept this a secret? IT was too big to hide. But he suddenly remembered all the Sweepers would take the L-2 assignments before he could even see them. But this monument was amazing. How Quatre had done it he didn't know.
He saw Quatre walk in front of the monument and a swarm of reporters started asking questions but Quatre only raised his hands as a sign to be quiet.
"This is a monument recognizing the loss of innocent children who lost their lives when a group of mercenaries played both sides of the war. It also recognizes the survivors and the fallen. It tells what happened that day. Take time later to look at it. Today I have plans and that takes us-" It was all Duo heard before the reporters all shouted questions at his friend. Though not moments later Quatre was back at his side.
"How did you do all this?" Duo asked flabbergasted.
"Well it took a lot of work... But there is more and then you have the rest of your mini vacation to explore the rebirth of L-2. I admit keeping it from you was really hard. But there is a bigger secret that you must see. It is today's second present. After that we have one more." Quatre said breathlessly.
"Well alright. You must have spent a fortune."
"Don't worry about it... Let's just get to the car before the fools realize that it's a body double."
Duo laughed. If it was one thing Quatre did not like it was reporters. They ran to the car that was waiting and drove to where Duo's second present laid waiting.
Duo watched the surroundings that were once familiar and once abandoned turn into a thriving colony. It was amazing what changes. People were smiling and the buildings were well kept and he could see what a difference it made. Shanties were now small one story houses the children looked well fed and well clothed. It was everything he could have hoped for.
A large field of grass laid on both sides of the road and a house he knew was a mansion seemed to be creeping up in front of them. He saw children laughing and nuns and priests laughing with them. His mind grew suspicious. "Quatre?"
Quatre laughed. He knew what Duo was thinking. Once again Quatre beamed at his friends and smiled "Duo welcome to the Maxwell Home for the Children." he said as he watched his friends expressions.
Duo looked sharply at his blond friend. "Quatre you didn't. You did all this?" He couldn't believe it. This was his dream come to reality. An orphanage for children. But this was more. He hadn't expected Quatre to find an area large enough for a big yard and lots of rooms.
"Not all. Heero has his present to give. Now that is really gonna make you cry." Quatre said in a sly voice.
Duo sighed. This was all a lot to take in. He now knew that the rest of the gang was in on the secret too as soon as he saw Trowa's troupe come in and play with the kids. He knew that several of these kids would eventually end up as troupe members when he saw that gleam in several of the children's eyes. He saw Nuns and Priests taking time to learn about the children and settling more than one fight between them. He knew that if Sister Helen and Father Maxwell had the money they would have built a place exactly like it.
He saw Quatre talking to the news camera and answering reporters questions. Most of them ,he heard, had asked why a multi-billionaire would spend his time and money doing something that no one else would do. Duo loved Quatre's answer. "Why should it matter if I have money or if I don't, It's Everybody's job to look after children and see that they have a healthy childhood in both body and spirit. If I hadn't stepped up...who would. After all I always help children when I can...it's more than I can say for L-2's past...but thats what a future is for. And by making sure these children have a future L-2 has a future. Now if you'll excuse me...I believe I have children to get to know and play with." It was all said with a meaningful tone that Duo's heart went to his friend and he vowed to find a way to repay Quatre.
Quatre went inside and got to know some of the more adventurous kids that went ahead to see what was inside. He was happy to see that the slide show, that Wufei prepared was currently being projected on a pure white wall. He was surprised to see a few nuns and not too few children watching it. He was even more surprised that one of the people seemed to know who and what each picture was.
"You see this picture was taken When Duo had just gotten here. He wouldn't stand still for nobody always looking for father Maxwell to throw him out like much other orphanages had. But Father knew better. He saw the hurt of the past and the challenge to show Duo that everybody needed love. Father was right. Duo soon became a protector of the children there from the street and school bullies. I can never forget Duo standing in front of a bully in school and mind you Duo was not much taller than a lot of the Little's here but he punched that bully straight in the nose and knocked him down. It was after that Duo got the name 'Maxwell's Demon' after all nobody had that much spunk to do that, even in school where we should have been safe but weren't."
Quatre smiled it seemed Tria knew how to get past every child's inner shield that told them to run and get away before they were hurt. Quatre felt their fears much stronger that most adults because he also knew what some of their fear were as he had them when he was little. Quatre found Heero and gathered Tria from the children. It was time to give Duo his last present. A friend long thought dead.
As they walked out Heero didn't waste any time. He had spent the last two hours getting Tria ready to meet Duo. He pulled Tria to Duo and waited for Duo to say something, but Tria said something first.
"Hello Duo"
"um, Hi?" he said back unsure of who she was. He had a nagging feeling he knew her... but not from where. "Do I know you?"
"You used to. You were really a beast back when we were kids. Always trying to picks fights with Father to get him to throw you out. It made you so mad when he wouldn't. But you never ran because you knew he cared."
"How did you know that!" Duo whispered in a small voice. Not even his friends knew that.
"I was there. Especially after Solo died from the plague and you got caught by Father stealing food."
"There was only one other survivor from the plague Trianna? How did you survive?"
"I wasn't there. Father let me stay at a friends house the night before. It wasn't until I heard the sirens and the shouting that I returned home only to find it gone. I thought you were buried in the rubble but there were so many children that couldn't be identified because of the burns. I thought I was the only survivor until Soldier boy here told me you were alive."
"So all this time you were alive? I have so many questions." Duo asked excitedly.
Tria smiled a fox's grin."Those are all going to have to wait. You should see this place. I wish it was here when I was little. I think it may have turned around a lot of lives."
Duo smiled back."I agree. If We knew that such a place existed I think it would have made living easier because we would have gone straight here if we knew it existed."
"Well they have an army of preacher folk that are supposed to go into town daily and pick kids off the streets and offer them homes here."Tria explained as she got Duo to help figure out who among the children could be recruited to play harmless jokes on the Priests and Nuns.
Trowa laughed as some of the kids fell in love with the troupe and he smiled when some of the Troupe got that look that meant they may have more members of the Troupe to look after. But he had more fun just watching some of the children's antics to try and join now. They were saddened when the Troupe said no... But brightened up when they said maybe in a few years. But they made each kid promise that even if they were going to join they still had to go to school so they better do good in school other wise they couldn't join.
He had brought a Lion that had been born into captivity and was closer to becoming a large house cat rather than a ferocious lion. When he brought her out many of the children backed away but when they saw Trowa and the Lion playing just like it's smaller cousin they fell in love and 'helped' play with her. He had also explained to the reporters that this cats family from her great-great-great grand-kitties had been raised by zoos and other circus ans was actually registered much father back than most purebred lines of cats did they relax and mention it in their reports.
He actually had a fright when one of the children had somehow gotten on top of a tool shed and was scared to come down. He looked at his lioness and looked at the kid. She walked towards the child and with a little effort had the child's pant hem in her mouth and jumped to the ground. That was the final straw that broke most of the other children's fear of her and they smothered her with hugs and kisses. He was also the one who told the children how to take care of their new pets and how to train them.
By the end of the day he had both Kids and their pets trained to a 'T' . He was happy and shared his opinion of them vacationing here during their off weeks to help with the children. The Nuns also were in high favor with it.
Heero smiled back to the others. This was the first time in a very long time that Duo's smile wasn't hidden behind some facade or joke. The look on his face was pure happiness. And Heero knew that it wouldn't be long before Wufei would be given his present and would have the same look. Heero grabbed a camera and started taking pictures of everything. He Knew that Duo would be regretting not taking pictures so he fulfilled that role. Getting at least on picture of every child as well as a group picture at the end. He smiled as he patted his coat pocket there were five rolls of film that need to be developed and he was gonna be damned if he didn't get them developed professionally, these memories were much too important than that.
Wufei was having fun. After he set up the slide show he went out side to play with the children it was the most fun he had in the longest time. Playing tag, hid-and-go-seek, make-believe and other variations of some games he played as a child. But his highlight came from a small little girl. She refused to let go of his hand and would start crying if he wasn't holding her hand. It made some of the games more difficult to play but other children would sometimes overlook the two of them for a bit more challenging prey and when they were it they made sure they had boundaries set up so it would be much easier to catch someone.
Duo watched his friends and children have fun. It was a life he wished he could have had when he was little. But thinking upon it he wouldn't have changed a thing. If he could he decided that would be being more of a loving child to Father Maxwell and Sister Helen. But that was the only thing because if he changed anything else he would never have had the chance to meet the people he would gladly call family.
"So Duo you ready to come home?" Tria asked in a quiet voice.
Duo knew she meant L2 but something in him told him that L2 would always be there for him, His five friends- no make that his family is where he wanted to be no matter what happened. They had been there through all the tough time in the war and had become brother in more than arms but in blood. "Yeah I'm ready. My family needs me more than I need to be here." he answered in a far away tone.
Tria looked at him confused.
Duo eventually looked over at her. "L2 will always be a home for me but it will always be here. MY brothers need me more than I need L2, Tria. But I still have a few weeks to spend here. He said the last part smiling with such joy she had never seen on him as a child. She smiled as well. "Well Duo Maxwell. I Guess I have to get the band to be famous after all Dehem was actually D M meaning Duo Maxwell. Cause you were the only 'family' I had ever known and thought I had lost. The rest of the members decided to spell it out. Giving us a unique name. You'll hear from us over the year Duo... Just remember your roots." She said understanding why he needed to be with his brothers.
"Never forgot them. They made what I am today. You never forget something like that." He said with a huge Maxwell grin on his face.
Tria looked at him and smiled. She knew that Duo hadn't been inside the building yet. So she pulled him in and it seemed that fate had just restarted the slide show when Duo walked in and watched the opening slides. He learned that Wufei had found the pictures in a fire proof safe where the old Maxwell orphanage stood and put them together in a slide show. Duo silently thanked him as tears threatened to escape from his eyes. He watched as the first picture he saw was of Father Maxwell's smiling a huge grin at the camera. Duo stood shocked. Somehow the person who took the picture had gotten just the right moment and it was either the setting of the artificial light or the rising of it. Making Father Maxwell seem like an angel holding his hand out showing everything would be fine. It was a smile and presence that he missed. Silent tears ran down Duo's face as he smiled he in return knowing that where ever Father Maxwell and Sister Helen were they knew he would be okay.
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Maya: So tell me was it any good? Cause I really only had wriiten one line in a notebook that had basically said 'Quatre gives L2 to Duo for a birthday present.' I thought what else could I do with that line? SOOOOO with my sister occasionally reading over it, she gave me the thumbs up and that was MONTHS ago... Please let me know what you think... I HOPE everyone likes it... If you find mistakes or something that doesn't make sense PLEASE let me know. CONSTUCTIVE critism is well taken.
