FicWad

Part III Chapter 1 Party

That mission had been the best and worst of his life. Duo remembered every detail like it was still yesterday. Maybe he was reminded by the scars on his back, maybe he remembered because Heero had almost died, but most likely he remembered because it was the first and last time Duo had dared to tell Heero that he loved him.
Duo was still holding the knife when the phone rang. He stared at it for a moment before deciding he was not daydreaming anymore and picked it up.
“Hello?” Duo asked.
“There is going to be a party New Year’s at Quatre’s. Coming?”
Speak of the gods, it was Heero calling him! Duo suppressed a surge of happiness and forced himself to act normal. ‘You just saw him last night for Christ’s sake!’
“Yeah, I’ll be there. Pick me up ‘k?” Duo asked him.
“Hn.” (Translation for those of you who aren’t Duo: Sure.)
Heero hung up and left Duo staring at the phone. He could not believe that one crazy Christmas phone call had all of a sudden catapulted his Prussian-eyed god back into his life.
“Five days. I have five days to figure out why he gave me a knife.”
Duo took the picture into his bedroom and stuck it in the big frame he had that held all seventeen of the pictures he had taken on that mission. He went and looked at the knife again. It could not be the same knife. That knife had been taken to a lab for DNA identification and after lab people got their hands on things no one ever saw them again. Not only that, but the knife he had found in the cell had been crusted over and there had been a chip of some kind in the blade. The blade on the knife Heero gave him was whole.
“This is going to bug me forever!” Duo said aloud frustrated. “If it’s not the same knife then why?”
Duo had to go to work, but the knife remained on his mind all that day. It was there, constantly buzzing in the back of Duo’s brain. After work, Duo went to the orphans as he usually did and played with them for a little while. He always did when he needed to think on something. The orphans took his mind off things and showed him what was really important in life at times.
“Hey! It’s Duo!”
Duo smiled as the familiar shout rang out. It was not exactly an orphanage he was visiting, but rather a street gang hideout. He encouraged the children to go to a home, but Duo would be one of the last people to force them. Once in a while, Duo would bring them things, little things he thought they would need. Today he had stopped and gotten each of them a new towel, a bar of soap, and a small bottle of shampoo. He could already hear the disappointed moans that it was not candy, but that would be left for another day. Duo knew the orphans would use his gifts because they wanted to please him. They idolized Duo as the war orphan turned hero.
Duo stopped at the door to the warehouse. By this time, all the twenty or so orphans that stayed there would know he was there and would be waiting for him. Duo raised his hand slowly and knocked three times on the warehouse door. In a second the window above the door opened and a small brown head popped out.
“What’s the password?” A small voice asked.
“Now I have to have a password? What’s up with that Benj?” Duo said laughingly. Benj was the youngest orphan in the whole place. Four years old and Benj was still a sweet little boy, but the streets would change that if Duo did not convince him to go to a home soon.
“Sorry, Duo, but Brent says you need a password.”
“Uh, knucklebomb?” Duo tried. That had been the last password he had been told.
“Nope. That was last month sometime.” Benj said and started to pop his head back in.
“Awww, c’mon kids! No one left me a note with the new password.” Duo said and put on his puppy dog eyes. Benj waited for half a second before breaking down.
“Just a sec.” Benj told him and ducked inside. He was talking to the other orphans, probably bargaining to get Duo inside without the password. It did not matter that everyone knew him. Five minutes later the door opened and Benj stepped out.
“Well, can I come in?” Duo asked him smiling nicely.
“I’m spose to tell you the password.” Benj said and turned around to knock at the door. This time the head that popped out was Brent’s.
“Password?” He said in his most surly sounding voice.
“Queeniecollie.” Benj said and the door opened to allow him and Duo to enter.
Once inside, Duo handed out all of the presents he had. Just as expected, everyone moaned. He laughed and launched into an explanation of why they needed to keep clean. Eventually everyone agreed that they should, but Duo could still see they were disappointed. Needing to physically assert himself, Duo convinced everyone to play a game of basketball.
It was a tough game. Duo played hard and acted like his own goofy self, but the kids were getting better with each passing game. At the end, Duo just managed to scrape by with a score of him 30, kids 28. Benj ran up to him and Duo picked him up.
“Gee, Duo, you’re getting old.” Benj told him. Duo almost dropped him.
“WHAT? I am not! Just because I almost let you win doesn’t mean I’m getting old.” Duo said and everyone laughed.
“I was only joking, Duo.” Benj told him and took his hand.
Duo smiled and told them a story before leaving. The knife had buzzed in his brain, but Duo had forgotten it long enough to subconsciously think about it. He had reviewed the situation a thousand times in his mind and once again went over it while walking home. The picture, the knife, the note…the picture, the knife, the note…the picture, the knife, the… note…?What note? I NEVER READ THE NOTE! The realization hit Duo like a sledgehammer making him break into a run to get home.
The note was still lying there under his tiny tree. Duo had not had time to clean up after Christmas yet. He had completely forgotten about the note and had not read it. Not even bothering to take off his jacket, Duo rushed over to pick the note up. It was not much of a note, even if Heero had not signed it there would be no mistaking who it was from.
Duo,
Thanks for having me. Dinner was good. I...I had fun. You mean a lot to me, and so do these. I want you to have them. Merry Christmas.
Aishiteru,
Heero
Duo had no idea what the word at the end meant. It had to be Japanese because Heero was originally of Japanese descent. He would make a point of asking Heero at the New Year’s party if he remembered, but for right now the note held no clue as to why Heero had given the knife to him. Thinking back, Duo could not remember Heero carrying a knife either. Duo racked his brain for a reason a knife would be important to Heero, but all he drew was a great big blank.
“Oh hell, the knife be damned. I mean a lot to him.” Duo said to himself as he held the note to his chest. “I have proof!
It was the same the next day, and the day after, and the day after that. No matter what Duo did, he could not figure out why a knife was important to Heero Yuy. Finally the night for the party arrived and Duo was still bugged about the mysterious knife. He put it aside though, he did not want to seem ungrateful for Heero’s gift. Heero called him a little early.
“Thought we could get there early.” Heero’s monotone said slowly as though he were thinking hard about something.
“Sure, I can be ready in ten minutes.” Duo responded checking his watch. He wondered why Heero would want to get there early and asked him.
“Relena will be there. I need to check the security.”
“Buddy, it’s Quatre I’m-a-billion-gazillion-dollar-man’s pad. I’m sure the security is top notch.” Duo laughed, but Heero’s monotone came through stubbornly.
“Ten minutes?”
“Yeah. C-ya then pal.” Duo said and hung up.
Ten minutes later exactly, Heero buzzed Duo’s room. Going over to the intercom, Duo pressed the button for speaking. He was about to say something along the lines of not being ready when Heero interrupted him and asked to come up. Mildly surprised, a feeling Duo was becoming familiar with, Duo pushed the button to open the door.
It was not that Duo was not ready; he was just lacking dry hair and clothes. The shower had been freezing and Duo had already spent five minutes on the phone arguing with his superintendent. He took the freezing shower, but could not dry his hair and talk on the phone at the same time, too much noise. He was still arguing with his superintendent when Heero knocked on the door. Without waiting for a reply from Duo, Heero just came in. Duo did not mind because at the moment he was imagining seventeen different ways to kill his super.
Heero said nothing as Duo hung up, got dressed, half dried his hair and grabbed his jacket finally ready to go half an hour later. In the car, Duo could feel Heero’s eyes come back to him periodically and it made Duo wonder if there was something on Heero’s mind. It was weird enough for Heero not to have glared at Duo for not being ready, but this glancing over at him thing was extra weird. For once Duo was quiet as he thought about the party. He half hoped Hilde would be there because he had never gotten around to calling and wishing her a Merry Christmas, but on the other hand he had Heero. Duo wished that Heero was his date instead of his ride. It had been hard enough to hide his feelings clad in nothing but a towel when Heero walked in looking good enough to eat. I wonder if he noticed…Duo thought a little panicky, but quickly realized Heero would have said something by now. Unless he’s embarrassed…Duo could not look at Heero for the rest of the ride.