Disclaimers: Don't own any part of Gundam Wing nor it's characters. Merely borrowing them for a little fun.

Warnings: Shounen-ai and nothing much besides that, I think. Heero's POV. Post anime.

Coming Home

Part 6

Duo followed Heero's shocked look to his set of keys on the floor. With a low cry, he bent over and swept the fallen item into his hands. "I'm… I'm sorry," he apologised hurriedly and darted out of the restaurant.

Heero didn't now why his behind was stuck to the chair as he watched Duo flee from him. He turned, still in a daze to his friends.

"Duo!" Quatre yelled after his friend, getting out of his chair.

Duo had the keychain Heero gave 02. Why? Wait, did that mean Duo was 02? And if he was 02, and he had tacitly rejected 02…

"Shit!" Heero bolted from his chair and ran out into the night air, half hearing his friends' jumbled conversation behind him. He looked up and down the street but there wasn't any sign of Duo. "Damn, stupid baka," he cursed, fumbling with his car keys. He had to find Duo. He wanted an explanation. What the hell was all this 02 crap he tried to pull anyway?

…I have only one love of my life. I hope to have the courage to tell him that one day...

That line ran over and over in Heero's head. What did it mean? Who did he mean? Before, Heero had thought that it meant someone else, but knowing it was Duo, why did his treacherous heart tell him Duo had meant him all along? And if it was him, then… then…

Heero moaned loudly, backing the car into the street with a loud screech of protesting wheels. He didn't even see the shocked visages of his friends running out after him. He needed to get back to Duo. He had inadvertently hurt the American once again. He didn't remember much of the drive back to his apartment, only that there was a lot of honking involved and a lot of rude signs thrown in his way. He remembered vaguely returning the favour to a lot of them. He stopped the car right in the middle entrance to the apartment building.

"Mr Yuy, you can't…" The doorman protested and a bunch of car keys were thrown in his direction.

"Move it for me then." Without another word, Heero ran up the stairs. He had never felt the desire to run so fast in his entire life. For some reason, he knew the rest of his life depended on this. He stood outside 02C, panting and feeling more nervous than he had ever had in his entire life. For the first time since they had started exchanging notes, Heero could hear sounds of life coming from this apartment. It sounded like someone was awfully upset in there, and was frantically packing.

Duo… Duo was leaving?

"No!" A low cry tore from his chest at the prospect of opening his letter slot and finding nothing there. Unthinkingly, he twisted the knob and pushed. He had expected it to be locked and therefore went flying through the doorway when the door swung open without any resistance. He landed in a heap on the floor and Duo staring down at him with some surprise.

"Heero!" Duo blurted, his arms full of books.

Heero took a quick look around and noted with disappointment that the apartment was alarmingly empty and there were boxes piled up everywhere. Duo was moving out of the apartment, and out of Heero's life yet again.

"What are you doing here?" Duo asked, his voice rough, as if he had been crying.

Taking a closer look at the American, Heero realised that Duo had been crying. There were dried tears making tracks down his pale cheeks. Suddenly, something snapped. Instead of feeling more guilt, a rush of anger shot through Heero. He got to his feet and grabbed Duo's arm, sending the books scattering.

"What is the damn meaning of this? All those stupid letters, all those little gifts. Why are you playing with me?" Heero growled.

Duo's eyes grew wider at each word and he pulled his arm roughly out of Heero's grasp. "Who said I was playing you? I confessed my love to you, gave my damn heart to you and you just stomped on it. You just kept bloody silent for ages, not replying my notes. How the hell do you think I felt? Who's playing whom?" He stalked away, and stood on the other side of the empty living room, ensuring that there was ample space in between them.

"Confessed? You call that confessing? Just a note with no explanation of who you are and who was the love of you life. That is you idea of confessing?"

Duo frowned. "Wait… wait… back up. Heero, you didn't know that those notes were sent by me?"

That served to deflate Heero's anger. "How was I supposed to know?" But he couldn't lie to Duo either. "They reminded me of how you usually spoke but… how was I supposed to know?"

"You… we spent weeks answering each other's notes and you didn't know who I was? Heero Yuy didn't try to find out who 02 was and still answered those notes?" Duo's tone got more and more incredulous by the second. "The Heero Yuy I knew from the war would never had let 02 remain in the shadows. I thought you knew!"

Incredulous violet eyescrashed with Heero's stunnedPrussian ones as the two stared at each other, their jaws slack. It was rather silly, Heero realised. He wouldn't have let 02 be a faceless person for so long. But was 02 really faceless to him? Didn't he imagine 02 to be the same person standing in front of him. The absurdity of the situation hit him like a ton of bricks. A small bubble of mirth escaped and soon he was reduced to tears of hilarity.

Duo, however, wasn't amused. "Hey, excuse me, I fail to see that humour in the situation here!"

Unable to help himself, Heero pulled Duo into his arms, wrapping them tightly around the shocked American. He felt the other teen stiffen for a brief moment before melting in his arms. Somewhere during the whole thing, he had stopped laughing and concentrated very hard to stop the tears that threatened. He never realised how much he missed Duo until that very moment. "We need to talk," he said, finally, his voice thick with emotion.

"Yes, I agree."

It was a while before they made any move to disentangle themselves; Duo had his arms wrapped tightly around Heero's waist and Heero's hands were severely tangled in Duo's soft hair. They sat down on the floor, in a corner; all the furniture had been moved out. Once they were settled, they were back to that awkward stage again.

"Do you want to start?" Duo offered.

Heero nodded. After all, he had the most questions. "Why did you leave?"

The braided teen sighed softly, as if knowing this would be the first question Heero would ask. It was probably the hardest to answer. "Do you know how it feels to be in love with someone and only to realise that person loved someone else?"

Before that week, Heero might saw no, but after reading that note from 02 and feeling that devastation in his heart, he nodded.

"So you know why I left then," Duo muttered, looking at the floor. He worried the end of his braid nervously.

Heero shook his head. "No. I might have not realised I love you, but…" He trailed off, realising Duo was staring at him with wide eyed disbelief in his eyes. There was such wonderful surprise, such joy in his expression that Heero immediately asked, "What? What did I say?"

"You… just said you love me."

The Japanese man bit his lip, realising a little late the proverbial cat he let out of the bag. Oh hell, might as well just admit something that was already that obvious. "Yes I do. I thought it was more than obvious."

Duo inched closer to Heero, resting his head against the other man's shoulder with a small sigh. "It's different hearing it for real." He smiled as a warm arm snaked around his shoulders, pulling him closer. "Go on."

"Where was I… right, I might not have realised I love you but there was no one else. What are you talking about?"

"Miss Stalker Chick."

Heero growled. "Why did the entire world think I was with Relena?"

"It looked like it, Heero. You cared for her so much, willing to die for her, well, a lot of people can get the wrong idea," Duo muttered a little peevishly.

"She was a cause, Duo. Nothing more. She got the idea eventually." Heero nearly laughed, recalling what Relena has told him a few weeks earlier. "I turn around and you were gone. That hurt."

Duo silently squeezed Heero's hand in support. He never knew how much he hurt Heero until today. Heero always seemed so strong and emotionless.

"Why did you come back then?"

The braided American in his arms laughed in embarrassment. "Well, about a month before the mysterious person in 02C moved in, Duo Maxwell wrote an email to Relena Darlian Peacecraft, asking her when her engagement to one Heero Yuy would be."

Heero paled at the thought of marrying Relena. Despite how much he loved her, he wasn't in love with her and that, to him, made all the difference in the world to him. Relena had finally got that as well and was now happily ensconced in Aaron's capable arms. "And?" He urged softly.

"Relena's eyes fell out of her sockets and onto the ground. She called me and I had to watch her over the vid screen picking them up for over an hour. That's when her boyfriend came home and helped her. Then they washed out the orbs before plonking them back in. After that…" That was as far as Duo got before Heero's hand closed over his mouth.

"I think I get the picture," Heero laughed. Duo tended to run off at the mouth when nervous.

Duo raised regretful eyes to Heero's. "It was then I realised what a bleeding fool I had been. I could have started pursuing you a long time ago but I was so busy running."

Heero smiled, feeling a gentle warmth spreading from the general vicinity of his heart to the rest of his body. "So you came back?"

"Yeah," another embarrassed laugh. "Came back and enlisted the blond hurricane and his silent lover for help. Wufei got sucked into the Quatre vortex as well. We came up with the rather farfetched idea. I moved above you and…"

"Threw that stupid paper at my door!" Heero accused, looking rather amazed. He never knew the former pilot as that… that… manipulative.

Now Duo chuckled, not in the least guilty. "Yes, ingenious, ain't it?" That got him an affectionate cuff on the head. Then he got serious. "Honestly Heero, I really thought you knew who I was. You accepted my little notes so easily, replied with the same dry sarcastic wit you did to me during your better moments during the war."

Heero flushed bright red before brokenly explaining what went through his mind during the whole period he was 'pursued' by Duo. By the end of it, he had expected Duo to be laughing or at least showing some sort of reaction. What he didn't expect was the teen to stare fixedly at him, his violet orbs intense.

"Why did you answer them then?" Duo asked suddenly.

Heero flushed. "Well… uhm… you see… well… I kind of… you know… kind of…"

Duo gaped. Heero Yuy babbling, that had to be a world first.

"I kind of took 02 to be you. But I also knew he wasn't but I wanted so much to imagine you had come back and decided to take up our relationship and 02's notes were so Maxwell…"

"But you didn't think it was me?" Duo quirked an eyebrow at Heero. He was curious but not condemning. The Japanese had every right to give up hope on Duo. He was the one that started all that running business in the first place.

Heero shrugged, playing unconsciously with the tip of Duo's braid. He didn't realise how much he had missed that long length in his hands, although, he couldn't actually say that he had played with Duo's hair before. He had spent a lot of nights staring at the back of Duo's head, admiring that mass of hair. Of course, then he had told himself that it was a liability, something like that made him easily recognisable and that he needed to cut it off. But now, the thought of cutting all that off made Heero sick. The braid, along with the maniacal grins and silly humour was what made up Duo Maxwell.

"I guess I never thought you would come back and for me? Does that make sense?" Heero asked uncertainly.

A tight hug he received from the American teen told him it made a little too much sense. "I'm sorry, Heero. I just didn't think. All I wanted to do was to go away and lick my wounds."

Then something came to Heero's mind. "All that confessing your love to someone if you have the courage… that was me?" He asked a little uncertainly.

Duo drooped a little at that. "And when you started ignoring me, I thought… I thought…"

"You thought Heero Yuy didn't want Duo Maxwell. No, I just didn't want to get into something that didn't have any result. I was disappointed actually. It felt like you had just broken up with me," Heero brushed the soft tendrils of hair away from Duo's pale cheeks. Unable to stop himself, he planted a soft kiss on the other teen's forehead. "We really know how to screw with each other's heads."

A wicked smile bloomed on Duo's face. "Really? Tell me more about this 'screwing' with each other's 'heads'. Sounds absolutely riveting."

Heero knew that Duo was probably the only on in history to make him blush. He did now, spectacularly but he couldn't deny the images that filtered through his mind or the golden heat that started to pool in his nether regions. Okay, so maybe he was gay for sure this time. Who cares if Duo was the only guy he was attracted to?

Casting such thoughts aside, Heero stilled, wondering what he should do next. Fortunately for him, Duo did the deciding. And from the quick decisive way he melded their lips together, Duo thought they had been dancing around the mulberry bush a little too long. It was long before they parted but inevitable.

"I'm sorry, Heero. I've been an ass. Will you take me back?" Duo asked, his voice husky with passion. He also looked like a little puppy begging for a treat.

Heero groaned, becoming undone by that slightly pouty expression. He had forgotten how adorable Duo could be when he wanted something or as determined. These past weeks has proven to Heero just how much Duo wanted him. If he had any doubt in the past, it was now washed away with a tide of unimaginable joy that the American would be willing to fight tooth and nail for his heart if he hadn't already given it to someone else. Now he wished Duo had called Relena a tad earlier, say, a year earlier?

Gently, he lifted Duo's chin and claimed those lips for his own. "Yes," he panted briefly. "I will take you back, 02."

XXxxXX

Heero slid his car into his appointed parking space. He got out, locking his car before entering his apartment building. It was another long night of helping Duo unpack again. It had been almost a week since he had rushed upstairs to 02's apartment to find Duo Maxwell there, which was an irony in itself considering their war time codes.

It was later that he was informed that the apartment belonged to one Duo Maxwell, an investor from L2. He didn't realise how well Duo had done for himself over the period of two years. Apparently, he had started off working with Hilde at the scrap yard but with his burgeoning ambition to be something more, it just wasn't enough. Once he sold out the partnership, he had took what little he owned and started doing some small time investment, real estate, securities, commodities, basically anything. He had a few failed ventures before he had enough experience to do it right. Of course, 'doing it right' came with help from Quatre Winner's investment experts as well. Duo was one to think quick on his feet and in a few short months, it was these investment experts that were head hunting him.

Duo had proceeded to do many things to L2, and his own small but growing company combined with Winner Industries was bringing some semblance of financial prosperity to the once poverty stricken colony. He had indeed not lied in his e-mail and was setting up various orphanages as atonement for all the families he had broken up during the war. Still it wasn't enough, he still needed to do more. Heero understood this need, he felt it often as well. That was how Heero found out that Duo had bought over the building just to pursue him. While he felt flattered, part of him was aghast at what it might have cost Duo, but his boyfriend, well, they weren't lovers yet, told him only one thing,it was worth every penny. That had, of course, warmed him from the top of his head to the tips of his feet. Then, Duo had rather spoilt it by saying that buying prime property wasn't at all that much a waste of money, imagine the value in a few years when this was build and that was in place and this was…

Heero had to kiss him to shut him up and was finding that to be a very useful and enjoyable method of gagging Duo Maxwell.

Then his thoughts turned to less pleasant ones of house moving. Duo had every intention to move out of the apartment, having thought Heero didn't reciprocate his feelings. During the week of long silence, Duo had started moving this belongings out, selling those he didn't need. Now, it was decided that he would stay put, thus the long road to remaking the house into a home again. Even though Duo had done well for himself, he was still the same frugal person Heero knew him to be. So for the past few days, he and Duo had been bargain hunting to replenish the furniture that he had so carelessly sold. It was a very tiring task since Duo had insisted on bargaining right down to the very last dime. While Heero found it amusing, five hours of it proved to be a little tiresome. And that was the sum and total of his first few dates with his new boyfriend.

Then came the endless moving, though, with that, they had enlisted the help of the others. So, days passed rather pleasantly, where all five of them renewed their bond of friendship and strengthened future bonds, as in the case of their new couple.

As Heero passed the letter slots, he couldn't resist a look at them. It was there that this wild ride started, and ended with his heart having this sense of fullness and joy in them everyday instead of gnawing emptiness. And it was on this day, he was something familiar peeking out of his letterbox.

He resisted a short bark of laughter. "What is Duo doing now?" He muttered to himself as he went to retrieve the lone envelope. He tore it open excitedly, noting the unusual weight. A key, quite similar to the one that unlocked his door fell into his hand. He stared at it for a while, a little confused, before unfolding the letter.

01,

You mentioned that the skyline is more visible from where I am. Perhaps it is time to come home?

02

Heero's heart hammered as he read those words. Was Duo offering what Heero thought he was offering? Sure, they had professed their love for each other, but so far, they hadn't spoken of anything concrete. Hell, he wasn't sure if he was ready for the kind of thing Duo seemed to be suggesting. But, he couldn't banish the delightful pleasure that shot through him that Duo desired such a thing from him.

He stared indecisively at the now extremely heavy key in his palm. Should he? But if he didn't, and left Duo waiting there in that empty apartment all alone… Now that was unthinkable. He had done enough damage by not replying any of Duo's notes, he couldn't, wouldn't hurt the American like that again. Even if he had to go up there, talk things out with Duo and properly grovel for forgiveness at his boyfriend's feet for the rest of the night.

Ouch, that was a rather unappealing scenario.

Still…

For the first time, Heero considered taking the elevator as walking up to the second floor reminded him a little too much like walking up to the gallows. He knew the disappointment in large violet orbs will be a quick stab to his heart.

"Come on, Yuy, face it like a man," he admonished himself, taking one slow step at a time. "Right, delay is such a good idea." He looked down at his leaden legs, leaden with reluctance more likely. "Move, damn it."

Of course, all too soon he stood outside 02C, his hands twisting the key painfully. It slipped from his hands and then he realised his palms were incredibly sweaty. What was wrong with him? Why was he so nervous? Someone he really cared about, someone who he can actually say he loved just asked him to move in with him, so what was wrong? More accurately, what was his problem?

He bent over to pick the key up. He straightened slowly. How was he going to explain to Duo? How?

With aching slowness, he pushed the key into the keyhole and twisted it. It turned effortlessly. He took a deep breath, reaching for the knob. This was going to be it. His dooms day. Slowly, he twisted the brass knob and the door opened with a soft click. It swung open slowly, the knob leaving Heero's hand, on its own accord, moved by the slight momentum of the push he put behind it.

It creaked open to reveal Duo standing in the middle of the apartment. The lights were warm, reflecting merrily off the gold and red strands within Duo's chestnut crown, creating a soft halo of light. It made him look like an angel.

Heero's angel.

He had a large welcoming smile plastered on his face while he stood in front of the couch they had purchased from a second hand store two days ago. But the couch wasn't the worn and torn thing that it was. Duo had managed to fix it up and it was now it was reupholstered to look a soft beige with big plush throw pillows scattered along its length. A low oriental styled cabinet had been polished to reveal a gorgeous rosewood finish and it served as a stylish coffee table.

Along the once barren walls stood an entire wall of do-it-yourself bookshelves and it was covered with everything from reference texts, volumes of novels as well as a multitude of pictures. Assorted knick knacks also found its way to what Heero had begun to term as Duo's 'wall of fame', along with an entertainment unit he recognised as the other boys' housewarming gift to him. Dark coloured draperies framed each open window, giving the apartment a very warm, very lived-in feeling.

In short, it was a home, unlike his rather stark existent below.

He felt his body relax as he pictured Duo and him curled up amongst the plush pillows cuddled together reading a book, watching TV, them arguing over who's cooking caused them food poisoning the night before over in the rather homey kitchen and all manner of sounds inappropriate of anyone below the age of 21 coming from their bedroom.

Right, theirs, his mind mocked him evilly. Where was that 'oh my God, Duo's asking me to move in with him, I am going to pass out from shock' feeling gone to?

He drank in the brilliantly shining violet eyes, the hopeful, welcoming smile and the slight spread hands as if waiting for an embrace. Could there be any doubt?

Heero's lips parted to speak and the said the first thing that came to mind: "Taidama." I'm home.

Duo's nervousness faded. "Okaeri," he whispered. Welcome home.

Yes, Heero had finally come home.

The end