In The Memory Epilogue
Every morning, around eight am, Heero Yuy awoke slowly. He rolled over, casually snuggling closer to his lover and enjoying the warmth of the sun that shone through the curtains. He listened to the silence, happily drinking in the quiet of the room. The house was rarely quiet, save for these treasured moments before Duo or Nio woke up. Before getting out of bed, he looked at the man sleeping next to him and smiled. Planting a gentle kiss on his cheek as he did every morning, Heero reluctantly got up to start the day.
Seeing one of her dads raise from the bed, Nio stood from her spot near the door and let out several "Good Morning" barks. As every morning, this was enough to wake Duo up, but no more than for him to throw a pillow across the room and mutter "Shut up!" before rolling over and going back to sleep.
Leading Nio from the room, Heero went to the bathroom and carried out his morning rituals. He showered, dried his hair, and brushed his teeth. He spent little time looking at himself in the mirror these days, no longer caring enough to critique himself.
Just like every morning, Heero emerged from the bathroom dressed and ready for the day. By this time, Duo had woken up and made his way downstairs to the kitchen, and after letting Nio out into the yard he put on some coffee and started breakfast. It was different every morning, but today Duo felt like making Heero's favorite - simple toast.
Heero smiled as he entered the kitchen, the smell of toast and coffee filling his nostrils. He gave Duo a quick kiss and they both sat down at the table to enjoy their food. They talked about their plans for the day and about what they would do that evening. Sometime during the conversation Nio pushed open the back door and came back inside. She headed straight for the living room, taking her favorite spot at one end of the couch.
Once breakfast was eaten, Heero left for work while Duo took care of the dishes. Heero's schedule, though more relaxed than it used to be, was still stricter than Duo's, so he had to leave earlier.
It still took about ten minutes to drive to the Preventers Headquarters, depending on traffic. Thankfully though, he no longer slaved behind a desk all day. After proving their inadequacy at fighting the E.R.A., the Preventers mobile suit pilot division had gone under renovations. The most notable improvement being a new teacher - Heero. He worked from nine to five every day, training Preventer agents to skillfully fight in a mobile suit. It meant he could actively defend the colony without having to do any more killing. He loved his job.
Wufei still worked on the seventh floor with Une, but they often dropped in on one another, just to say hi.
Quatre and Trowa had gone back to their life on the L4 colony, happily visiting whenever they could.
Duo continued his work at the salvage yard, often taking long lunch breaks to dine out with Heero.
And every evening, once the day's job was done, Heero came home to his family. As often as they could, Heero and Duo (and Nio, more often than not) spent time together. They made it a point to have a movie night at least once a week, to go out to eat whenever they could, to just be with each other as much as they could manage. Duo took Heero on frequent bike rides and before long, he was teaching Heero to drive.
This was Heero's life now. He woke when his body had slept enough, he worked only until the clock ready five pm, and he came home every night to the man he loved. It was a comforting rhythm Heero never wanted to diverge from again.
OWARI