A.N. 1. Many thanks – actually, all the thanks – to Kaeru Shisho, for help on this one, and to everyone who has been kind enough to review.

A.N. 2. This is officially the last chapter, but there is also an epilogue to come...

Seashells and Seaweed:

He was smiling as he ran down the stairs, and walked out on to the beach, looking for Duo, who glanced around at the sound of footsteps. Before he smiled at Trowa, his expression, just for a heartbeat, was all unguarded.

He hadn't known, definitely, how things would work out, and he'd sent Trowa to Quatre anyway.

'Hey,' he caught Duo in his arms, giving him a kiss that he hoped conveyed all he felt, but didn't really have the words to say. Duo, kissing him back, seemed to get it.

When the world started to expand, just a little bit, from Duo's mouth on his, he realised that Auri was running around them in crazy circles, trailing a long piece of seaweed behind him like a banner. He was also soaking wet from the knees down.

'What, you tried to drown him?' Trowa hoped he didn't sound too judgmental, because he really wasn't. He'd sympathise, if anything.

'Eh, no,' Duo shrugged. 'There was this rock pool with crabs in it; he got pretty excited. Wanted to eat some, I think. He's not meant to eat shellfish, is he?'

'I don't think anyone's meant to eat live crabs.'

'I guess. I didn't let him anyway. He's fine now. It's windy, he'll be dry by the time we get home.'

Trowa wasn't entirely sure Quat would approve of this rough and ready approach to childcare but he just laughed.

'So?' Duo asked. 'What's the deal with Quat? Is he OK?'

Oh, shit. Shit. Mired in his own thoughts about Quat, he'd never spared a second for how Duo would feel. He told him about the trial in short, staccato sentences and then kissed him and told him about Heero.

Duo just gaped at him. 'Heero? Fuck. Honestly, never saw that coming.'

Trowa tried to read his expression. 'I'm sorry.'

'What for? Look, I know you think I'm still hung up on him, but really I'm not. It's been over for years now; just took me a long time to accept it. I guess I'm pretty slow sometimes. Not sure if it was ever really on, to be totally honest. Quat's a bit of a surprise, but Heero always did have a bit of a thing for him. Ever since they were in Sanc together. Shit! I always thought if Heero met the male version of Relena, that'd be it for him, and Quat kind of is.'

'Not really.'

'Near enough to make no difference, Tro.'

'You really don't mind?'

'Don't know if I'd say that. I mean, it's kind of a shock, yeah? Those two. But I kind of see now why Quat's been really cagey on the 'phone lately.. When did it even happen? What the hell did happen?'

'They were on L3 the same time, a few weeks ago, before I met up with Quat in Budapest. Sounds like they've met up a couple of times since then. I don't really know exactly what happened. Quat was pretty evasive about it. Just – whatever the fuck Heero did to him, he's apparently ready to come out for him.'

'Ouch,' Duo said softly. 'Do you…want to talk about it at all?'

'I'm pissed as hell.' Most of the anger he'd more or less managed to suppress, talking to Quat, suddenly surged out. 'Duo, I was with him for years. Hiding how I really felt because of his damn family. They had a little chat with me, three of those sisters of his, when Quat was still in hospital. Told me they'd tolerate me being around if I stuck to certain ground rules. If I was suitably discreet.'

'You should've told them to go fuck themselves.'

'I should, yeah.'

He'd been sixteen though, all brash bravado on the outside, but secretly terrified of those elegantly-dressed women and the things they'd said, terrified they'd somehow find a way to keep him away from Quat.

'They said…if I really cared about Quat, I'd go along with it. That his family was important to him; that I shouldn't make him choose to be with me over them, that he'd lose everything if he did.'

'Like I said, you should have told them to go fuck themselves.'

'You're right. Anyway, I went along with it for fucking years, Duo. You know that. I pretended we were just friends and roommates and said nothing when they fixed him up on dates with nice girls from the right backgrounds, so everyone could pretend he was a nice L4 boy, and now he spends one night with bloody Heero and he's ready to tell the world he's gay. He's talking about moving back to Earth. Sanc, probably. Set up house with Heero and do the whole happy couple bit. I mean, what the fuck? What do you all see in Heero anyway? Has he got two dicks or something?'

'Just the one.' Duo kissed him then, very gently. 'And for the record, you could totally give him lessons on what to do with it. Tro, a couple of things, OK? One, you're amazing. If Quat can't see that, it's his problem. Not yours. But I don't actually think it's to do with either of you; it's more that he's ready now. Ready to walk away from L4 and his family and tell them to screw themselves.'

'Ready to do it for Heero,' Trowa said. 'Yeah, I get that. Or no, I don't really. What's so special about him?'

Duo gave him a quizzical half-smile. 'Seriously? You've never looked at him and thought you'd like to go there?'

'No. Never.'

'Oh, well. I suppose you always had total tunnel vision when it came to guys, and Quat was the one in the tunnel. But, like I said, I don't think it's Heero, really. Not just him. Quat's been pretty miserable with his life for ages now. I think this has been coming for a while now. I think he just decided he needed to make a change and Heero was in the right place at the right time.'

He looked away from Trowa, checking on Auri. God, just as well one of them had remembered him.

'Another thing. This trial, if it comes off, it's going to be massive. Like a real-life daytime soap opera, and that's before you even factor in Heero. The whole guy-who-saved-the-universe thing. It'll go on for months, at least and then there'll be all this focus on who Quatre ends up with. You'd hate that.'

'So will Heero.'

'Yeah, but you know what he's like. He'll sort of steam-roll through the whole media shit-storm. You remember what he was like after the war? When reporters tried asking him questions? Just glared at them and muttered something in Japanese and stalked off. If anyone tries taking a photo of him, he'll probably shoot them!'

'Yeah. I still can't really imagine it. Heero, of all people, with the paparazzi after him!'

'Oh, he's going to hate it,' Duo said breezily, not sounding overly bothered. 'God. If he had his way, he'd probably want to live in some sort of underground bunker, or on an uninhabited desert island, or something. What's the deal with him and Quat anyway? Are they officially together now?'

'I honestly have no idea,' Trowa shook his head. 'According to Quat, they spent that one night together on L3, mostly talking, but it's pretty obvious that they did a bit more than just that. And they've met a couple of times since then, by the sound of it. I guess that's where Heero was when he was off on those supposed jobs that no one knew anything about. Quat was just about to call him when I came down here. I don't know what's going on with them, Duo. I don't think Quat does either. He said they haven't talked at all about what's happening; he doesn't really know how Heero feels about him, or how he's going to feel about all this. That he doesn't want to pressure him into anything, especially not thrusting him into – what did you call it? - a media shit-storm.'

'Oh, he'll treat it like a mission,' Duo said confidently. 'He just needs to figure out what his objectives are, and Quat needs to say the fuck what he actually wants, for a change.'

'I suppose. Duo, what do you think will happen with the trial? He seems to think Sura's got a pretty good case. He was scared enough to grab the kid and come here.'

Duo considered, nibbling his bottom lip. 'Family law's not really my area,' he said finally. 'It's going to be a hell of a tricky case though. Technically, homosexual acts haven't been a capital offence on L4 for a couple of years now, it's more a morality thing, so I don't know how that would tie into them being 'unnatural perversions' or however it's worded, in any sort of legal sense. Plus, Quat's had Sanc citizenship since after the war; he owns property all over New Port City; he could make a pretty good case for having the trial here. It'd just be a straightforward divorce with Quat as the guilty party. I dunno if the pre-nup would hold, and the courts here are pretty big on the mother's rights. There'd be some sort of joint custody agreement.'

'I don't think Quat would mind about that, actually. He wouldn't want to cut her totally out of Auri's life; he just doesn't want her family having control over him, and oh, fuck, where is he anyway? I totally forgot about him!'

He jumped up, relaxing a little when he saw Auri at the water's edge, splashing happily.

'He's fine, Tro,' Duo grinned up at him. 'I've been keeping an eye on him.'

They watched the little boy run backwards from a wave. It was nice, Trowa thought, not having to talk, even just for a second. Auri slapped his seaweed into the water, laughing, and then somehow lost his balance, toppling over, and then going under the next wave.

'Oh, shit.'

Trowa reached him first, hauling him by his sodden t-shirt, with Duo a heartbeat behind.

'Hey, shrimp, you're OK. I've got you.'

Auri was trembling, poor little thing. Scared and cold and clinging to Trowa like the one fixed point in his universe and crying brokenly.

'Here,' Duo said suddenly, 'take his clothes off, will you? You can dry him with this.' He pulled off his own t-shirt and handed it over. 'Then he can run around for a bit and warm up. Can't take him back like this; Quat would kill the pair of us.'

'Wouldn't blame him,' Trowa muttered, peeling off Auri's little pair of jeans. His sobs had subsided into little hitching breaths into Trowa's neck, both hands clutching his shirt. 'Shit. I are officially the worst baby-sitter in the entire universe. So far, I've taught him to curse; nearly drowned him; gave him something to eat that he was allergic to..'

'He's fine, Tro. He's a kid. They have accidents. You have your nieces; you have to know that. I bet they're always falling into stuff and whatever.'

'I suppose so.' They were almost like members of a different species, though; Cathy's tough, rough-and-tumble twins and Quatre's precious, pampered son and heir.

Duo dropped a kiss on Auri's head. 'There you go, champ. All better now?'

'Fuck,' Auri said into Trowa's skin, but at least he'd stopped crying.

'That's about right, yeah,' Trowa agreed, hugging him. 'C'mon, kiddo. You want to get down?'

'No!'

'OK, fine.' Since Duo's top was soaked now, he pulled off his own and wrapped it around the kid.

'Hey, nice view, Tro,' Duo admired, licking his lips. 'Like one of those black and white posters you can get. Hot, half-naked guy holding a baby. Wish I had my camera here.'

'Oh, fuck off.'

'Fuck off,' Auri agreed, emphasising the sentiment by sticking out his tongue.

'Quat is totally going to kill us.'

Duo grinned. 'Nah. He's the one who dumped the kiddo on us; well, on you really. Not our fault we're not trained nannies. Plus, we're just toughening him up a bit and someone the hell needs to, now he's not on L4 any more. Needs to learn how to cope in the real world, don't you Auri-doodle?'

'Down,' Auri demanded peremptorily, reaching up to grab a handful of Trowa's hair and tugging. Hard.

'Ouch, you little brat. OK, but you stay away from the water, all right?' He put the little boy down carefully and Auri immediately ran straight towards the waves.

'Oh no, you don't,' Duo grabbed him and swooped him up, swinging him 'round in circles. 'Stop trying to drown yourself, you monster. Hey, look over there.' He pointed towards the sand dunes. 'Bet you can't run all the way over there and back without stopping. You're just a little kid!'

'Can!' Auri yelled, squirming to get down. 'Can!'

'Show me then.' Duo set him down, grinning suddenly. 'You know what I just thought of? Heero's going to end up as step-father to the toddler from hell!'

'He's not that bad!' Trowa objected, remembering how Auri had felt, nestled against him.

'I know, just joking. But I don't think Heero's ever spoken to a little kid in his life! He'll probably bring him to obedience classes or something.'

'Bet you anything he'll teach him to shoot. Poor kid, between Heero and Quat, he won't know where he is. We'll have to take him out sometimes, take him to the beach and the circus and do normal stuff.'

'Teach him more about swearing?' Duo suggested, grinning at the thought'

'Duo!' Auri arrived back so suddenly that he bumped into their legs. 'Look!'

'Wow!' Duo swung him up, admiring the seashell Auri was brandishing. 'That's pretty cool, kiddo! Think you can find another one? For Trowa?''

'Yes!' Auri squirmed to be let down and took off again.

'First rule of childcare. Keep 'em distracted,' he said smugly. 'Plus, tire them out enough that they'll flop.'

'You're good with him, you know,' He linked their fingers back together. 'You ever thought about kids?'

'What, like in an abstract sense? Or, as in, actually having one?'

Trowa shrugged. 'Whatever.'

'No, not really. I mean, I like kids. They're fun to be around and all, but I dunno, can't see myself with one of my own. Wouldn't have a clue how to be a dad.' He squeezed Trowa's hand. 'What about you?'

'The same, pretty much. I love Cathy's girls; I love doing stuff with them, or having them stay over, but I love handing them back the next day and getting some peace and quiet.'

'I'd kinda like a dog, maybe. I'm always thought you'd have loads of pets.'

'Awkward when I'm travelling for work.' He hesitated, thinking about it. 'We could get a dog, if you wanted. If you wouldn't mind staying here when I'm away?'

'I could do that. What if we were both away with work at the same time?'

'We'd sort something out. Ask Wufei or Sally or someone.'

'Y'know, you could just ask me to move in officially,' Duo suggested.

'You already have, pretty much.' Trowa grinned at him. It really was that easy. 'What sort of dog do you want?'

'I dunno. One of those little terriers, maybe? They're cute. I'd like to get one from a rescue shelter, you know? And if I am moving in, I want a proper bathroom.'

'I have a proper bathroom.'

'Yeah, down five flights of stairs and across a yard. You've got plenty of empty space in the lighthouse. We could put in a decent bathroom. An actual tub and a power shower.'

'Right.' He was grinning suddenly. This was him and Duo, planning their future together. 'Any other requests?'

'I'll keep you posted. I'm sure there are a few.'

'Trowa!' Auri barrelled into him, spilling handfuls of shells and pebbles at his feet. 'Look! Look!'

'Wow,' Trowa bent down and ruffled his hair. He couldn't remember Auri using his name ever before. 'They're all for me? Thank you!'

The toddler nodded enthusiastically, holding up a large specimen for Trowa to admire. So much of Quat in him, really; the energy, the desire to please. And Quat's smile; happy, with just a tinge of mischief.

He carefully put the shell into his pocket. 'Think you can get some more for me? And Duo? Thanks, shrimp.'

'You're pretty good with kids yourself,' Duo commented, taking his hand.

'I don't know about that. Duo, d'you think they have a hope in hell of staying together? Honestly?'

'Y'know, they actually might work,' Duo said slowly, thinking about it.

'Are you serious?' Trowa gave him a look of pure scepticism. 'I mean, Quat's the most high maintenance guy in the universe, and Heero couldn't make you happy and you're pretty easy-going.'

'Well, yeah, but….look, with 'Ro and me, it wasn't just his fault. I never actually came out and told him what I wanted from him, 'cause I was afraid he'd think I was being clingy or needy or some shit like that, and he never was able to work it out, and most of our communication pretty much boiled down to sex or screaming arguments. Quat's not like that. He'll probably lay out exactly what he wants; killer romantic date every Saturday and flowers twice a week and declarations of undying love six times a day. Heero'd love that! He needs very definite guidelines, you know. Loves everything laid out in black and white. I can see Quat giving him clear instructions. Some sort of manual, probably. The Care and Maintenance of Quatre Winner.'

'Winner 101,' Trowa suggested. He'd meant it as a bit of a joke, but it came out more bitter than anything, and Duo took his hand, weaving their fingers together.

'Tro, you're sure you're OK with this? I get Quat has this thing going on with Heero, but you're still the one he came to.'

'I know.' Trowa looked out to sea, and then swung his gaze towards Auri, checking on him, and back to Duo.

The whole universe had swung upside down, and yes, Quat had come to him, but Duo was the one standing beside him.

'I'm OK. Honest. I am crazy about you; you know that, right?'

'I kind of picked up on it, yeah,' Duo teased. ''Cause I'm seriously smart like that.'

'You little shit.'

Duo poked him in the side. 'Way to totally ruin the romantic moment, Tro. I was gonna say it back too.'

'Were you?'

'Guess you'll never know now.'

'I don't care. I know you like me.'

'Maybe a teeny little bit,' Duo admitted.

'I think it's more than that.'

'Yeah, maybe a little bit more.' He abruptly stopped the teasing. 'Tro, I've never really done all this lovey-dovey shit with anyone. The whole L-word thing.'

'Well, here's a hint. You can stop calling it lovey-dovey shit,' Trowa advised, wrinkling his nose.

'Jeez, thanks. That's useful.'

Trowa laughed suddenly at the sheer ridiculousness of the whole conversation, and then bent down to pick up a long ribbon of seaweed at the water's edge, and pulled Duo against him. 'Say it, Maxwell. Or you'll be picking stinky seaweed out of your hair for days.'

'You wouldn't dare,' Duo challenged, trying to wriggle free.

'Say it,' Auri echoed, latching on to Duo's leg and laughing up at him. 'Fuck, Duo. Say it.'

'Oh, for fuck's sake!' Duo muttered, squirming. 'Yeah. Fine, you asshole. Whatever. I love you. Happy now?'

'Ecstatic,' Trowa said, very dry, and then kissed him.