Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ 3 Ties That Bind ❯ Three ( Chapter 3 )

“I stand firm on my decision,” I muttered quietly to Tomé, who was following on my heels.

“It wasn’t even your decision!” Tomé protested. “You blinked at me, and Maxwell said no. You just shrugged and refused!”

“He’s my advisor,” I shrugged indifferently. Most people in the court knew that when left to my own devices, Duo’s opinions matched mine in the end anyway. Very few even bothered to comment on the fact that Duo’d just decided a matter of state anymore; it was nice, actually. If I wasn’t in the mood to play king…well, I only played half-king anyway.

“Advisor!” Tomé agreed. “You are the king!”

The words took a moment for me to fully comprehend, and I turned on him in disbelief. “And as your king, I refuse you!”

The guy stopped as well, blinking.

“Duo has been my closest friend since I was fifteen,” I snapped. “He was raised on the streets and thinks that moment faster than I do. I trust him with my life, my wife’s life…and my children. Do not offend him.”

“I apologize, majesty,” the guy muttered bowing low. “I meant no real offense.”

“Of course,” I agreed, still angry as I watched as the man bow again and storm away. Not a lot to do about it when you pissed off your monarch…

“Was that my bad?” Duo asked, moving around the corner he’d hid behind when the man had started to leave.

“Yes,” I informed him mildly. “Yes, it was.”

- -

“I hate when politicians make fools of themselves,” I muttered, scanning the times and halls of the previous day’s recordings. I found the one I wanted, finally, looking back to the runner. “Especially when it ends up embarrassing them.”

“I fail to see your point,” the man noted.

“You will, unless you’re blind,” I agreed. I removed the disc from the case and led the man to one of the many televisions in the central monitoring room. “Tomé sent you to me to warn me he’s lodging a complaint about the personal safety of the king?”

The man nodded.

“I’m sure he was raving,” I added, cuing up the video as the man’s volatile nature came to my mind again, “about the king alone in a dark corridor where anyone could be waiting.”

“In a nutshell,” the man agreed, focusing on the screen.

“And then,” I continued, pausing the video as Heero and Tomé moved into the hall. “He managed to forget that Heero was a guerilla warrior in the war, and that we lived in Deniel.”

That gave the guy pause.

“And then the fact that I am personally in charge of the safety of the royal family.” I hit the play button.

The tape showed Heero and Tomé walking down the hall, with me a short distance behind them. When the men stopped, I leaned against a wall a respectable distance behind my king.

The runner blinked.

The argument escalated to Heero’s annoyance, and I stepped around the corner to an adjacent hall. Tomé stormed away from the king, and when he was gone, I swung back out into the main corridor.

“I’d give you the audio,” I noted, “but they were discussing a matter of state, and what we were saying would probably offend you.”

The man, who’d been staring wide-eyed, bowed quickly…and basically ran.

I looked back to the tape in mild amusement as it showed us smacking at each other’s faces. I turned my head to the monarch himself. “And that’s your bad.”

“How is that my bad?” Heero protested, moving from his dark corner to watch me remove the disc from the player. “It’s not necessary for everyone to see my protection.”

“I told you, Heero,” I muttered, replacing the disc in its file. “The people like to know the monarchs they know and love are being cared for. You let me place ceremonial guards at Relena’s side…and your baby-girl’s side, but…you need someone visual—and not me. I’m too much of a politician anymore.”

“So you figure out how you can tell me my answers without everyone noticing it, and I’ll let you put a little toy at my side.”

I gave him a long narrow look.

Heero sniggered. “Come on, you know that’s how you think of them—you’d put some pretty little boy who’d pleased you with me to honor him.”

“I’m a married man, Heero,” I reminded him, rolling my eyes; even though my stomach had churned.

Heero guffawed. “Now why would you imagine I was saying anything about the state of your marriage, sir knight?”

I focused on him sharply, more anger than embarrassment surfacing.

“Okay,” Heero reassured me quickly. “I know you still love her—but you changed that time you were gone…a lot.”

“Can we not talk about this?” I asked abruptly, turning and starting for the door to the room. I didn’t want to think over the two years I’d ran the world on my own…

“…And,” Heero concluded before I could actually leave, “if you honestly expect me to believe that you’ve only been having sex with Nira for the last five or six years, I’m going to laugh in your face and be offended that you think so little of me.”

I stood stiffly for a moment, then stalked toward the hallway.

“The lord forgives all sin, Michael,” Heero called half-mockingly. “And you taste like peaches.”

I walked away.

- -

“Are you mad at me?”

“What?” I asked Duo blankly, looking up from the magazine to meet his eyes as he closed the door behind himself.

“Did I piss you off?”

“Usually,” I agreed, tilting my head at him. “I’m too pregnant and hormone ridden to follow this one, love.” I extended an arm to him.

He came and sat with me, pouting at the television a moment before meeting my eyes.

“What’s wrong?” I muttered, climbing onto his lap. “You look all petulant…”

“I was just down with Heero in the observation room,” he explained. “Tomé decided I wasn’t protecting him and was going to lodge a formal complaint.”

“That’s retarded,” I noted, petting his hair.

“I showed the runner the vid of what happened and he took off…”

“That can’t be what has you upset,” I accused. “That doesn’t explain why you think I’m mad at you.”

“Do you think I cheat on you?” he asked sincerely, his eyes vulnerable.

“Cheat on me?” I asked blankly, thinking about that. “Why would you cheat on me?”

He shook his head, frowning more.

“I see you eyeing some of your recruits,” I teased, “but you’d tell me if you lost it and fucked someone, wouldn’t you?”

He nodded.

“So why would I be worried about you cheating on me?”

“Heero just…” he looked down. “I was trying to get him to let me stand someone with him and he muttered I’d just put some pretty boy with him.”

“Someone who obeys and makes the king look good,” I agreed, tilting my head. “That’s generally how it works, right?”

He smiled slightly at me and shrugged. “He said I’d just put some little boy who’d pleased me with him.”

“To an extent,” I agreed in amusement.

This, evidently, did not help him feel better.

He grinned at my comment and shook his head again, looking toward the windows. “He brought it up again…”

“Why are they all over you again?” I snapped, sitting up properly to glare toward the main of the building. “You’ve been living here happily for years now…we have a daughter…come on…”

“Heero said he doesn’t think I’ve only been with you,” he explained. “He said he’d laugh in my face if I expected him to believe it.”

I stared at him in disbelief.

He looked away from my eyes, waiting.

“I see,” I muttered, sliding my feet off the couch. “I understand.”

“You haven’t been…”

“Until about two seconds ago the thought had never crossed my mind,” I returned, studying him. “What did you do?”

“What are you talking about?” he protested. “I didn’t do anything.”

“No, Michael,” I returned, watching him flinch slightly. “You did something that has them all worried about you. What did you do?”

He met my eyes.

“You’ve been running around doing something for weeks now.”

“I was shopping for…”

“Don’t lie to me,” I retorted irritably. “I’m pregnant with your child, don’t lie to me. What did you do?”

“I took Wufei to see Jun,” he muttered without looking at me—mumbled would be more correct. His specific words weren’t there, just the main sounds of them.

“What?” I asked levelly.

“I took Wufei to see Jun when Jun got out, okay?” he snapped, shoving me properly onto the couch as he moved to start pacing.

“You took Wufei to see Jun?” I echoed in disbelief. “Are you insane?”

“Evidently,” he snapped. “Wufei said I was like that again.”

I snorted, giving him a look.

He glowered at me, pacing across the apartment irritably.

That explained why they were all so wary of him again.

“What did you do to Wufei?” I asked dryly. He had to have done something that made the others believe what Wufei would rant about. Wufei had to have some proof to get them all to stop putting up blinders.

“Nira…” he hesitated, then walked over to look out over the courtyard. He sighed, looking toward the ground a long moment before turning his head very slightly. “I raped Jun.”

“What?” I demanded, rising to my feet in disbelief—after everything he was saying… “You just told me…”

“Not now,” he snapped, focusing on me angrily. “I did it before…when he was fucking with Wufei.”

I stared at him in relieved disbelief.

“I told Fei,” he added, looking back out the windows. “He told Relena and Heero…and Heero decided to believe him.”

I moved across the room to stand near him, not meeting his eyes. When he’d been trying to find Keith initially, I’d heard tales about him and the things he’d do, how he’d had no qualms about anything and just as many people were scared of him as pursued him. He’d been a legend in a society that didn’t really exist, and at the time nothing said about him surprised me.

Hearing it now bothered me extremely.

“That…that’s why they’re all over me again,” he muttered, studying the trees. “That’s why they’ve been on me again about this shit…but if you haven’t been talking to Relena…why would he think I’m cheating?” he met my eyes in confusion.

I shrugged at him. “Until you were acting all nervous,” I pointed at the couch, “I never thought it.”

He grinned a bit impishly at that and shook his head, looking out the windows. “I thought I’d proved myself to them.”

“I think you proved yourself stable to your post,” I noted. “I think the fact that you slip with Wufei and he tells them makes them all very nervous that you’ll start doing your old shit.”

“That was two years,” he noted, meeting my eyes again. “I’ve been here for twice that long…”

“Not to bring up troubled times,” I noted, moving to grab his wrist, “but you up and left them before she was even buried.”

He looked away.

“You disappeared for two years, Duo,” I reminded him. “You just vanished…I still don’t think you’ve mourned her yet…you showed up once for their wedding—basically you showed them you’re responsible for your posts, but…you hurt them…badly.”

He closed his eyes.

“I believe they understood why you did it,” I pressed, moving into his arm. “But I think telling Wufei like that was a bad idea.”

“He said it…I just stopped arguing it.”

“Hm,” I rubbed my belly slightly, which had his arms instantly around me. “It’ll be all right,” I reassured him. “I’ll talk to Relena and Hilde…they’ll talk to Heero and Tro…just bear with the skepticism.”

He nodded again.

“And if worst comes to worst,” I added, pulling back to meet his eyes, “I’m not going to leave you for fucking someone out of wedlock, huh? I might bitch at you about it, but I won’t leave you for it.”

“Don’t give me permission,” he spat, turning away from me, then sighed. “I need to get back to work…you getting Ash today or am I?”

“I’d appreciate it if you could,” I noted. “I have an appointment at two and she gets out at two fifteen.”

“All right,” he muttered, glancing to his watch. “Love you…see you later.”

I smiled in return, watching him leave the apartment.

…something told me I was in for a very long week.

- -

“It’s just…so stupid,” Tomé half snarled at Jun as they sat together at a bar. “It was bad enough that he just showed up, but now he’s controlling the king.”

“Maxwell is tricksm,” Jun muttered quietly, studying the man with interest. “He should be removed from power.”

Tomé’s eyes flared to life as he focused on Jun with interest.

Jun smiled slightly at him, running a hand through his hair.

“He has to be doing something illegal,” the politician muttered, focusing on his own reflection in the mirror.

Illegal?

Jun frowned slightly as the man obviously started thinking about something.

“Scandal,” Tomé breathed, looking around to Jun again. “If I could find a sweet little girl to set up as his intern…”

The two weeks Jun had been out of prison had given him time to start exploring his resources…finding out who was still loyal to him after seven years of bullshit and who had defected…who of the defectors could be strategically killed off.

He really wanted Maxwell dead.

Jun allowed his focus to wander as he considered that pleasant prospect…Maxwell standing with him and blatantly threatening him with Wufei behind him…Wufei…

His mind wandered to the Chinese man as he considered how the rounding of his arm suggested the muscles were still present…

“Don’t you think?”

Jun focused on the man sharply, blinking several times. “What?”

Tomé stared at him in disbelief.

“What?” Jun persisted, shaking his head. “What are you on about?”

“Oh, nevermind,” Tomé retorted irritably, setting a bill on the countertop. “I don’t need your help.”

“Help?” Jun asked sweetly.

They studied each other a long moment in silence before Tomé shook his head and looked the bar over. “I shouldn’t be seen with you. If we meet up again it has to be in private.”

Jun made an amused noise, grinning at the man.

Tomé turned and started walking away.

- -

“…Get that to me, and I have this urge,” I muttered, looking up from my file to my secretary. “For some reason I’m dying to know what the Armenian ambassador had for brunch.”

“Brunch?” she asked, giving me a very level look.

“Or breakfast,” I agreed easily. “Get that to me as soon as you can.”

“Yes, sir,” she muttered with a sigh and rolled eyes.

I watched her walk from the room before looking back to the file in front of me with a sigh.

Being the minister of interior was a flashy title, but what it really meant was I got to play with spies, and it wasn’t some little fun game…my rank wasn’t only for Sanq. My resources weren’t only the resources of the kingdom. I was lucky enough to have rank in the alliance, too…which meant I had a lot more players under me than the little kingdom I helped run.

My vid beeped and I reached over without looking up, clicking the flashing button. Normally, it was one of the guys on the line…

“Winner.”

I looked up at Sally Poe, blinking at her.

“I have some information for you. Are you secure?”

“I’d imagine,” I noted. “This is a secure line.”

She gave me a look—she didn’t like that I had rank over her, but she was the one who decided to switch professions.

“Swathe seems to be on the move again,” she added. “Since they let out the leader old officers have been dying off. It was all well and good for you to chase them out of Sanq, but you should have crushed them.”

“Hind-sight is twenty-twenty,” I agreed, tilting my head at her. “Was that your holy information?”

“No, there was a pretty boy that was being trained up in L-3.”

“L-3 seems to be a hotspot for dissention,” I noted, shifting back in my seat. “What’s so special about pretty-boy blue?”

“He’s had your training.”

I stopped, looking to the screen again.

“He’s had your king’s training…he’s had Duo’s training.”

“Gundams?” I asked, losing heart.

“No…but he’s mastered the Aries.”

“Shit, any little kid could master an Aries,” I retorted. “I’m pretty sure Lex has mastered an Aries.”

“Be that as it may…I mean the hand to hand shit you five learned. It’s not kid’s stuff, Winner. He’s another assassin.”

“You’d be amazed how many of those I know,” I muttered, thinking of Ace and Heero.

Assassins weren’t the face cards of the deck. Assassin’s were the deuce…all shapes and sizes, and not all that rare…or worth much.

“Don’t dismiss this,” she snapped.

“I’m not dismissing it,” I retorted irritably. “You seem interested in him…keep an eye on him.”

“We lost him.”

I looked back to the screen, narrowing my eyes at her.

“That’s why I brought it up,” she snapped. “They sent him to Earth on a transport and we never even found which one he was in.”

“So find him,” I ordered in aggravation. “What’s his motivation? Why did you associate him with Swathe?”

“Tomé was spotted with Jun Martin,” she noted. “Last night.”

“Yes, and they talked about creating a scandal around Duo so he lost power.”

She blinked at me.

I shook my head, rolling my eyes. Tomé’s confronting Heero, then trying to get Duo in trouble had made him a person of at least minor interest. I’d had an agent following him around.

“It’s nothing serious.”

“But…blue-boy moved…right after.”

“Sally,” I muttered with a sigh, “we have Jun’s phones tapped. We have everyone we need in protection and we’re working on getting the others to safety. The ones who are getting killed off are the ones who decided to evade the government. Unless you have solid proof that blue-boy is doing anything for Jun, I don’t see why I should freak out about him. What’s one more assassin?”

“That’s a rather…” she started, then trailed off and frowned at me.

“I’ll get some agents earth-side to help you, all right? Find the assassin and apprehend him as soon as he litters.”

“All right,” she muttered, looking down.

“Oh, I want to talk to him,” I reassured her with a slight smile. “I want to see what type of guerilla he is…chatty, strategic, stoic, or prideful.”

She met my eyes again.

“Start your search and I’ll get you my agents.”

“Yes, sir,” she muttered, obviously feeling better about it all.

I disconnected with her and hit the auto-button for my organizer.

“Yo,” Reiko muttered, looking to me with interest in his dark eyes…for about three seconds before looking back to a magazine in his hands.

“Get four agents to Poe.”

“Alignment?”

“Paladin.”

He stopped, looking up to me.

I grinned at the guy and rolled my eyes. “Earth officers, but not citizens.”

“Right,” he muttered, focusing back on the thing. “I’ll get right on it.”

“What are you looking at?” I demanded, raising an eyebrow at him.

He focused on me and gave me a very level look before turning the magazine to show me an image of a scantily clad woman doing something novel with a glass bottle.

“Cheap ass,” I muttered with a snort, “get the new issue,” and I disconnected.

- -

“Basically,” Jacob added tiredly, “he’s stuck on coming as close to on time as he can. I think he doesn’t want to be around home to mourn.”

I nodded tiredly at that.

“I…conceded,” he added, his blue eyes looking tired.

I could remember a time when he was all sparkle an pizzazz, where if you looked at him just right he’d shudder very slightly and his eyes would tell you a story…when he hadn’t been burdened down with all the affairs of state.

“What?” he asked tiredly, rubbing at his eyes. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You changed,” I returned.

“I grew up,” he retorted, glaring at me. “I was up last night…I need to sleep.”

I nodded at that as he rose to his feet. “I think you’re depressed.”

“I think I work a nine to five that I was never trained for or never expected to work,” he retorted. “This was a lot more flashy when I was young and was a knight.”

“You are a knight,” I noted, tilting my head at him. “You’re a depressed knight.”

He grinned, giving me a look.

“Just go talk to a shrink, huh? I miss the old you.”

That made him stop to look at me in disbelief.

“Charisma and charm,” I noted. “You twisted everyone around your finger.”

“I can’t do that in this job,” he reminded me.

I grinned at him and shrugged. “You know it’s been the last week that you’ve been getting down…does this shit with the ambassador really bother you that much?”

“I want to take the man aside and slap him across the face,” he noted, blinking at me in a way that suggested eminent sleep. “It’s hard to do that in any official capacity.”

“Go to bed,” I muttered. “Go sleep it off.”

He laughed slightly at that and wandered away.

“I just want three chairs added to the table,” Selena snapped into her earpiece as she moved into the office. “Just set them by…I’m aware,” she added, then stopped. “Do you have any idea who I am?”

I raised my eyebrows at her.

She guffawed in complete disbelief, storming forward to toss the folder she was carrying at me. “I am Selena Maxwell, not some intern!”

That name did carry weight, didn’t it?

I pulled the folder to me, tilting my head slightly at her.

“Yeah, of course you’re sorry,” she snapped, giving me a look of commiserating annoyance as she shook her head. “Of course you’ll add three chairs…no problems, no problems at all.”

I sniggered at that.

She rolled her eyes, running a hand over her belly. “Right…yeah…uh-huh. Bye.”

I could hear the person trying to protest that one as she hit a button the cell-phone clipped to the belt that encircled her waist. She gave me the look that suggested an angry outburst…and burst into tears.

I hopped to my feet, moving around the desk instantly to pull her into a hug.

…for some reason, I got pregnant women. I understood the hormones that made most other guys shy away in fear. I didn’t ask her what was wrong, I just let her cry it out.

“That’s…the seating change,” she added to me when she’d regained herself, wiping at her eyes. “I’m waiting to see if Sudan wants to add another chair or not…I’ll know before five.”

I kissed her forehead.

She smiled up at me, then smacked me as she started to laugh.

“Go home and wait for the call,” I suggested, moving her hair out of her face. “Go lay on your bed with the phone volume up so it actually wakes you up.”

“Mr. Trowa!” she protested.

I sniggered at that, moving around the desk to flick the folder open.

We were having a formal dinner to celebrate Faye’s seventh birthday, which was September seventeenth. The heir to the Sanq throne would attend for the first hour or two until she decided she was bored, and then Duo would herd the entire covey of miniatures back to the royal apartments where they would…do something that I didn’t get to do, because I had to attend the entire dinner.

Sometimes I was jealous of Duo…but then again, he was going to have three seven year olds and two fourteen year olds.

I probably wouldn’t even get Hilde the entire time, either, because she was due about a week after the birthday, and if our first son set a precedent, then she’d have our second son a day or two before Faye’s party.

“You’re impossible,” Selena added, flicking my hair affectionately before rising somewhat slowly to her feet and starting toward the door. “I’ll let you know what Sudan says as soon as I can,” she added. “Even if it is just me calling you from upstairs.”

“It’s no bother,” I reassured her. “Get Duo to massage you and we’ll be fine.”

She smiled at that and sighed as she started off.

I got points for that, right? Or did the points I had from Duo get negated?

So the real question was, who did I want to please more? The husband or the wife? Women the world over made the world a brighter place, but Duo was Duo, and Mr. Sunlight-in-Stars could make my life a living hell if my total accruement got too low…

Dear lord, I was keeping score.

- -

“It’s like a circus!” Heero concluded irritably to me as water sloshed down the outside of the rather round glass he was holding…and the thing slid from his hand. He made a grab for it, but missed, succeeding in making it fly further away and the water in it to fly across the floor.

I started sniggering.

“Shut-up!” he ordered, embarrassed as he studied the now shattered glass and looked around his office a moment. Finally, he stopped and looked up to me again.

I raised my eyebrows at him.

“You pick it up,” he pointed at the shards with a little dismissive shake of his hand.

“Nuh-uh, butterfingers,” I returned, folding my hands behind my head. “Nothin’ doin’.”

“You swore fealty to me,” he retorted.

“I swore fealty, not house-keeping,” I agreed, giving him a look.

“Just…get a broom,” he protested, looking around to point in the general area of the janitor’s closet. There was one just up the hall.

I gave him another look, then rolled my eyes and moved from the room. It only took me a moment to pick up a roll of paper-towels and dustpan…and hand-held broom. I took the implements back with me to the office, where he was still standing in the same spot I’d left him.

He was giving me a skeptical look, and had good reason to.

I shoved the broom and dustpan his hands.

“What am I gonna do with these?” he protested, looking at them as if he had no idea what they were.

“You’re gonna clean your own damn mess, majesty,” I retorted…and turned lo leave the room.

“Get back here!” he sounded amused. “Get back here, now!”

“I’ll see you later,” I returned, smiling sweetly at him and saluting him with the paper-towels, which I set on the couch I had to pass to get to the doors.

“Knight!”

“King!”

“Come clean it!”

I gave him a look, and shut the door behind myself.

I could already hear him laughing.

A passing intern or something slowed to give me a confused look.

I smiled at the man as Heero called my name pathetically. “What?”

He frowned more, looking toward the royal office.

“Even the king has to clean up after himself,” I informed the guy sagely, starting down the hall happily.

“Duo…” Heero wailed, pulling the door open…to look at the man who was standing there and blinking at him.

“Yes?” I asked happily.

“Hold that thought,” he returned, then pointed at the passer-by. “Wanna do me a favor?”

“Anything, majesty,” he muttered, moving forward quickly and eagerly.

I started laughing.

- -

“Hey, minister,” I muttered into my cell-phone. “I wouldn’t want to pry you away from your duties to the king for the world, but we have someone out here who’s asking for you.”

“Asking for me?” Duo asked. “By what name?”

“Tailor, Michael, Cat…Duo…I think he said asshole at one point.”

Duo hesitated.

Jesse Fallon had his arms crossed over his chest as he stood with his back against the guard-booth.

Our jobs were fairly straight forward. I was in charge of national defense, and Duo was in charge of national security. He dealt more with protecting government officials, and I dealt with patrolling our borders. We were both in charge of the soldiers, but we’d gained plenty of solid and dependable men back when we’d taken Deniel, so that was delegated nicely amongst our favorites.

Duo, however, had been in a meeting with the king, and when someone had come to the gates trying to get clearance, the only person any of them could think of was me.

“You wanna come out here for this,” I added, studying the man with interest.

Jesse pushed way from the booth, starting to open his mouth.

I held a finger up to keep him from talking.

“Who is it?”

“A ghost of the past,” I returned, snapping the phone closed.

“It’s only been seven years, Fei-fei,” he protested at me. “Hardly ghostly.”

I grinned slightly at him, moving to lean against the guard booth beside him and look up to the sky.

“Can’t you clear me?” he asked, tilting his head at me.

“Just wait for the minister,” I ordered without sounding too familiar. “It won’t take him five minutes to get down here.”

He fell silent, looking me over.

I smiled slightly at him, then nodded at the guard who was standing in the door and looking between us. “Go park his car in the garage,” I ordered.

“That’s not my job,” he started to protest.

“Go park his car in the garage, soldier,” I snapped.

He opened his mouth, then looked to Jesse before sighing and extending one hand for the keys that Jesse promptly passed to him.

I watched the car drive away, then looked to the man who’d driven me down in one of our little carts that we used to get to the gates. “Retrieve him,” I ordered. “Then return to your post.”

“Yes, sir,” he muttered, turning to ‘speed’ off after the car.

“Really?” Jesse asked with interest.

“The statute of limitations is eight years, Jesse,” I returned, not looking at him. “If you’re really here, you’re really under arrest.”

“Damn, I knew I had the date wrong,” he muttered, leaning against the hut again…as a second little speeder came down and stopped and Duo jumped off it with worried eyes.

Jesse stepped forward to look at the man.

Duo stared at him a long moment in disbelief before moving quickly to him and hugging him tightly.

“Let’s get back to the apartments,” I muttered, pushing away from the hut as the first speeder reappeared. “We can hang out in one of them until sunset.”

“Yeah,” Duo agreed, turning back to our cart. “Let’s do that.”

- -

E/N: Mm, reviews would be appreciated?