Started: February 14, 2001
Finished: February 14, 2001

Disclaimer: Yes, yes, the babysitter is back in town. The copyright people 
should be thanking me... *a chibi-Duo runs past her, knocking Shammy off her 
feet and giggling as he did so. A growling chibi-Heero comes chasing after, 
tackling chibi-Duo to the ground and start a mock fight.* Oy! Cut it out, the
two of you! H-Hey! Take that kind of play to the bedroom, okay? We've got an
audiance!

1+2/2+1. (Come on, you've got to know that already! And it's coming! ^_^)

Comments, please! Want 1+2 faster? Maybe 1x2? Mail! (I have fluff! YaY!)


Imminent Fate, part 8
Shamera
sitafire@hotmail.com

	"Heero?" 

	Heero hesitated in his typing to see one Duo Maxwell bounce into their
room, full of unused energy as he practically pounced to look over his 
shoulder. 

	Heero felt himself slightly recoil as Duo pushed his way over his 
shoulder, a hand on either side of him. Fortunately for him, all the 
information in his computer was encypted, although it wasn't as if he didn't 
trust Duo. It was just that Duo had a big mouth.

	Duo frowned as he stared in confusion at the computer screen. "Hey! 
What's the point of encypting this when I'm the only person besides to come
into this room?" He finally realized he was leaning half his body on Heero,
and blinked before quickly climbing off the other boy. 

	Heero breathed out a breath he didn't know he had been holding when 
Duo did that. It wasn't that he didn't like Duo close, it was that sometimes 
he froze up when Duo was a little too close. 

	"Well?" Duo demanded after several moments of silence. 

	Heero blinked and looked carefully at his partner. Duo was wearing the 
exact same thing he always wore, a slightly modified priest's outfit, but 
this time it seemed- well, a little bit sloppier. Or it could the the wisps
of hair that was slipping from the braid. 

	Duo noticed what Heero was looking at and gave a sheepish grin. "I 
think I pissed Wufei off again."

	Heero raised and eyebrow after that, and gave a small smile that was 
barely noticable. Well, Duo noticed, anyway.

	"..Hey! Was that a smile I saw on ya?" Duo pressed, leaning close on 
Heero again, making the smile disappear. He tilted his head and peeeeered 
closely at his partner, before giving a wide grin. "Well, considering that 
Wuffie and I argue all the time, I donno why you're smiling about something 
like that."

	Heero only shook his head slightly. "What do you want, Duo?"

	Duo grinned again and backed up a bit, hopping onto his bed and softly
bouncing once before settling down. "You remember when you asked Zechs about
the alicorn?" He asked, cocking his head to one side.

	Heero nodded. It was three days ago when Zechs had barged in and told 
the Gundam pilots about the three Worlds and how something was wrong. Heero 
had asked for information on alicorns, since he had seen one at the Delos's 
party. 

	"You were asking me if I knew anything on the alicorn you saw." Duo 
stated and leaned back, lifted up by his elbows yet still looking at Heero 
with the same smile on his lips. 

	Heero's brow furrowed. "You said you don't know her."

	"I don't." Duo quickly put in. "At least... I don'y personally know 
her. She only comes when I seem to need her, or when I'm emotionally 
distressed." His smile looked a little forced now and he shifted positions,
sitting back further on the bed so he could have the space to pull his knees
up to his chest and hug his legs. 

	Heero was silent. 

	"I remember a few weeks ago when I named her NightMare." Duo chuckled 
sloftly at that. "I said she was a mare that was as dark as the night. It 
suited until the realize the word being used when you put those two together.
Kinda embarressing, really."

	There was another area of silence and Duo shifted again uncomfortably,
not used to just sitting down. He had just told Heero.... "Maa, Heero. Why 
the long face?" 

	Indeed Heero did seem a bit sad. Duo blinked in surprise when Heero 
actually pushed out of his chair and went to sit next to Duo. 

	The bed bounced softly against the second body. 

	Heero had placed his hands down on the bed and was now looking at them
for a moment to organize his thoughts. "Zechs said... alicorns are replace-
ments for Angels."

	Duo looked startled, but then relaxed. "Aa. But that doesn't change 
anything. If I had a choice, I think I'd choose NightMare anyway. I think it
is better to know that someone's there to watch over you."

	Heero gave a soft snort. "Idiot. Of course."

	Duo grinned, he wasn't sure of Heero was calling him an idiot or him-
self, but it really didn't matter. 

	The Japanese boy turned to see Duo's grin, and his eyes softened 
considerably. "About your earlier question," he said softly. "I encypt every-
thing I wrote not because I have you as a roommate. It's because I'm used to
writing like that already."

	Duo's grin turned into a sincere smile. "I know. I was just asking to 
get a reaction out of you so I could start the conversation."

	Heero gave his head a firm shake, slightly amused. That would be 
typical Duo, all right. "Aa....t-thank you... for telling me about her."

	Duo laid his cheek on his knees, looking at Heero, his violet eyes 
betraying the emotions he was feeling. "You're welcome." He said simply, 
with more emotion in his voice than in his eyes. "I figured if I had to tell 
anyone, I would much rather tell you."

	Heero tried a small smile. "Tell me more?"

	Duo smiled back. 

			<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

	"You guys have been gone from school for the past week! What happened?"
Artemis was asking as she talked to Duo in between classes. 

	They were shoving their way through crowds of students, intent on 
getting up the stairs against the mob of bodies that were going down. Why 
couldn't schools have larger facilities?

	"There was an emergancy," Duo said, twisting the words around in his 
head so that he wouldn't blurt anything out. It was hard not to lie outright.
"My friends and I are really close- like family. Someone we knew came and 
asked for our help. We used the week going through how we could help this 
man." Hey, that was actually very close.

	Artemis yelped as a large roll backpack tried to cross over her foot.
"Damn those people who are too lazy to carry their books, anyway!" then she 
turned her attention back on Duo. "You guys are really kind to this guy. Did
you know him well?"

	Duo thought for a moment. "Well, sorta."

	"Well, that's nice of you," she said distantly. "We had someone come 
to our house for help, too. My sister wouldn't let us help."

	Duo faltered on the stairs. "Diana?!"

	Artemis nodded. "She may be very nice, but she's harsh on grudges. 
Never forgives a person for anyone they did until that person outrighttedly 
apologizes to her." she winced. "I learned that the hard way."

	By now, they were finally on top of the stairs, with barely anyone 
running about since the warning bell had gone off. 

	"Ahh, man," she groaned as they approached their homeroom class. 
"World History's (1) a bitch, eh, Duo?"

	Duo only shook his head. "I really don't care about this class." He 
looked away slight and murmured, "It's not as if we're going to be staying 
here long, anyway."

	"Ehh? What was that, Duo?"

	"Nothing. Nothing."

			<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

	Quatre figetted in his seat. He just couldn't be still, his Space 
Heart was warning him that something big was going to happen today. Not 
with school, like a bad grade, but more like an OZ attack or more of those 
shadowy creatures show up. Something bad.

	Wufei was sitting next to him, since they had this class together. He 
needed to notice the blond Arabian's distress, for he turned and gave Quatre
a curious look. 

	Quatre only shook his head to Wufei's unasked question. 

	"Mr. Winner? Mr. Chang? Do you have re-admit card for your absenses?" 
The teacher asked. 

	Quatre and Wufei both passed up their alibi, and the teacher's eyebrow
went up in question. She looked at the two pilots. "Family? You don't look 
much alike."

	"Our families were very close." Quatre lied. "We practically grew up 
with each other."

	She seemed to find that reason good enough and signed their cards, 
telling them to pass it on to their next teacher. 

	So class started once again and Quatre found that he just couldn't 
keep still. OZ had called a cease-fire, right? That means something was 
wrong with the other Worlds...

	He begratted himself silently to even think about that. He still didn't
completely believe in what Zechs had said, and he couldn't just start 
thinking that everything bad he feels will be because something is going on 
in the other Worlds. 

	But he just had the strangest feeling...

	Raising his hand quickly, he apologized to the teacher but said that 
he didn't feel well and needed to use the restroom.

	Then, without waiting for permission, he barged out of the the room.

			<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

	"Duo? What are you doing out?"

	Duo whirled around, started that someone had seen him staring out 
the second story window when it realized it was only Heero. 

	Duo shrugged. "Artemis was questioning me about what happened. And it 
was homeroom. Two things I don't like very much. I had to get some fresh 
air." He gestured to the window. 

	Heero moved up the join him, and they both leaned on the windowsill, 
their senses tuned to make sure that they weren't going to get caught by 
some passing janitor. 

	"Why are you out?" Duo asked, "I thought you excelled at your classes
and were the perfect student."

	Heero imitated Duo's response and shrugged. "There was no air in class.
People were also asking me questions."

	"Aa. You too, huh?"

	"Hn."

	The two stood there for a while, just looking out the window at the
falling leaves and the green grass. 

	"This is really messed up," Duo whispered quietly, knowing that Heero
would hear. "That we have to pretend to be normal students all the time... 
and carry around a job as Gundam pilots." He gave a small laugh that was 
only slightly hysterical. "Even when there's a cease-fire, we're going to be
looking for Angels. Will we never get a break?"

	Heero hesitated, then said, "They were talking about the war in class."

	"Yeah." the response was small, and the comfortable mood before 
shattered. Duo closed his eyes and rested his head on the glass, leaning onto
the windowsill. "All of them. Talking about how they hope the Gundam pilots 
weren't going to disturb the brief peace. The teacher let them."

	Heero was silent, watching the long-haired boy. 

	"I keep having this battle with myself," Duo said. "I want to jump up 
and tell everyone that we're only fighting for peace, and we're not the evil 
monsters that they described. That our lives are very hard and that we 
bleed easily, unlike the immortal beasts the media portrays us as." He opened
his eyes and looked up at Heero. "But I don't want to let anyone know that 
I'm a Gundam pilot not because of secrecy, but because I don't what anyone 
to know about this once the war really is done and over with. I don't want 
their pity, but I want them to understand. Is that selfish?"

	There was a pause as Heero really thought about it. He had a feeling 
he had to answer truthfully here, no matter what. "No. You only want them 
to understand what you're fighting for, but want to stay annomynous at the 
same time. The feeling is mutural."

	Duo blinked, then smiled at Heero. Somehow, it was always that Japanese
boy who could get such a calm reaction out of him. 

	"You don't have to take this on alone, you know." Heero said softly. 
"All of us have to face this, and none of us share the burden. But you don't
have to."

	Duo offered a hesitant smile. "You don't have to either."

	Daringly, Heero lifted up a hand to brush the bangs out of Duo's eyes,
and gave the other boy a slight smile. "I'm not."

	Duo smiled, and tilted his head slightly to the touch, eyes still 
locked on Heero. "That's good. Cause... well,"

	"Yeah?" Heero asked, leaning in a bit closer. 

	"I was hoping-"

			<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

	Quatre streamed down the hall, feeling the need for fresh air and 
maybe some water splashed onto his face. He had a sick feeling at the pit 
of his stomach that something was wrong, and he really wanted to get rid 
of that feeling no matter what-

	As he turned the corner, he finally stopped in his tracks, his sick 
feeling temperary forgotten. There was Heero and Duo, both standing by the 
window, with Heero's hand on Duo's face and the former leaning in closer 
to the latter. 

	Quatre immediantly turned red and looked away, but his feet refused to
stay in place even as he turned his face away to the obviously private 
scene. But no matter what he did, he couldn't keep in the soft squick of 
surprise that escaped his lips. 

	The two by the window immediantly seperated, fumbling before looking 
at Quatre, who, of course, was beet red.

	"What are you doing out, Quatre?" Duo squieked, then blinked, and 
calmed down again. "Shouldn't you be in class?" He asked in his normal voice
this time.

	Quatre shook his head. "I was going to the restroom..." Then he 
realized something, "Shouldn't the two of you be in class?"

	Heero seemed to be sulking while Duo laughed nervously. "Well, kinda 
turned out that we both needed some fresh air. Don't mind us, we were just 
kinda stuffed in the classroom...."

	Quatre nodded, feeling very uncomfortable. "Well, um, if you don't 
need me here-" he mentally winced as he thought that he shouldn't *be* there 
in the first place... ruined a damn good mood for them, "I think I'll be 
going back to class." He spun around and quickly started to walk away.

	"Weren't you going to the restroom, Quatre?"

	"Oh! Yeah... uhh, yeah." With that, he spun around again and hurried 
past the two, face still flushed as he practically ran down the hall. 

	Duo stared after his friend and shook his head slightly. "Weird."


1.) In my school World History is for Sophmores, okay? Maybe not in the 
other schools, but I'm only taking Age of Chivalry right now... and that 
sucks enough that I know I'm not going to like World History next year.


End part 8


WOW!!! I need to go to school right now REALLY FAST... and I have a speech 
test for first period that I haven't looked over.... but I finished all this
in the MORNING! Gee, I'm kinda hyper. That's a good thing, though, right? 
*winces as teacher glares at her* Anyway, gotta goooooo!!!!