Battlestar Andromeda Part 12
King's Ballroom
Palace of Aloria
That Evening
Za-el watched as Heero stalked back into the ballroom. A frown formed on his face as he saw the harsh cold look on Heero's face. He waited a few minutes watching the doors for Duo to return. When he didn't return Za-el felt a sliver of worry so he walked outside, going back to the place he had left Duo at. Walking slowly and quietly, he kept alert to any danger that could be around. He stopped for a moment when he heard a soft noise ahead of him. His worry now growing he continued on moving more quickly. At the spot that he had left Duo he stopped suddenly. His worry now turned to fear as he saw the slight body lying on the ground.
"Duo!" he cried as he rushed forward. Falling to his knees, Za-el pulled Duo up into his arms. He saw the faint line on tears on Duo's face and the empty look in his violet eyes. "Duo, what's wrong? Are you hurt? Tell me!"
Duo looked up at Za-el's face as if just noticing him. "Za-el?" he asked.
"Yeah Duo, what's wrong? Please tell me?" Za-el said watching as tears filled Duo's eyes again making them look like sparkling amethysts. Without warning Duo threw himself at Za-el's chest, huge wracking sobs tearing through the smaller man. Not knowing what else to do, Za-el rose with Duo in his arms and carried him through a side entrance to the palace. Being the head of the King's security he knew which room was Duo's and soon was placing the young man down on his bed. Za-el walked over to the small table in the corner of the room and poured a small amount of Alorian brandy in a small snifter. He walked back over to the bed and sat down beside the curled up figure lying on the bed.
"Here Duo. Drink this." he said softly.
Duo shook his head, still curled on his side. The tears in his eyes refusing to stop their trek down his face. His mind kept replaying Heero's final words to him earlier. "You can't just say I'm sorry and think this will end it. You walked out on me and our marriage without even looking back. I don't know what hurts the most right now, the fact that you believed I cheated on you or the fact that you didn't trust our marriage vows enough to confront me with this back then. I thought our love was strong enough to survive anything, obviously I was wrong." Duo put his fist in his mouth to cover the sobs that were forcing their way out. He felt gentle hands on his shoulder, slowly pulling him around to lie on his back. He closed his eyes at the soft words spoken to him.
"Duo, I know that we just met but I hate to see you like this. Please, please tell me what is wrong? Does it have to do with the Ambassador wanting to talk to you? Did he say something to you?" Za-el said softly.
It was the gentle words that finally broke him and Duo was soon pouring his heart out to the man beside him. He told of the first day he met Heero, of their courtship and finally of his marriage. It was when he spoke of the night of his anniversary that his voice broke. Through it all Za-el remained silent, listening to the broken man on the bed.
"When I saw them there in that bed something in me just broke. All I could think about was running. I just wanted to get as far away from there as possible."
Za-el finally broke his silence to ask Duo, "Why didn't you stay there and confront them? If it wasn't Heero in bed with her you would have known and then you would not have gone through all that pain."
Duo turned his head away from Za-el, not wanting him to see the pain in his eyes. He didn't want to discuss why he ran that night. How seeing those two people in the bed brought back memories that were so painful that even days later had made him physically ill. That was a part of his past that no one, not even Heero knew about.
"If you don't wish to speak of it then don't. I understand that some things are too painful to discuss. So I will ask you this instead. What are your feelings for Heero now?"
Duo was quiet for a minute. Then he said, "I don't know. I really don't. I gave Heero everything that I had, my heart and soul." He took a deep breath. "But I guess now that is a moot point isn't it? The pain in his eyes... He may never forgive me."
"Let me ask you this, did he tell you he didn't love you anymore? Has he done anything to show that his feelings have changed?" Za-el asked.
Duo thought back to last night when Heero kissed him. The intensity of the kiss was similar to the kisses of years ago. He shook his head, "No, he didn't say his feelings have changed. But how could he still love me after all that I did?"
"That's the great thing about love Duo. Forgiveness is part of the package. Just when you think that all is lost, love and forgiveness have a way of helping you to find your way back again."
"Thank you Za-el. You are a good man. I hope that one day you find someone to share the moons with."
Za-el nodded his head slightly and stood up. "Don't give up on Heero. Give him time. He has just found out that he was betrayed by someone he trusted, this same person also hurt the man that he loves. He needs to get all of those emotions under control. Try and get some sleep. Things may be clearer tomorrow." Za-el turned and quietly left the room.
Duo lay there for a while thinking over what Za-el said. Soon the events of the past few days took its toll on his body and exhaustion settled into his bones. He rose from the bed and walked to the bathroom to undress and get ready for bed. Hoping that the dreams that had plagued him would be held at bay he slipped between the covers and fell asleep.
Space shuttle Orion
Private runway
Planet Aloria
The next day dawned bright and clear. For those who were waiting at the shuttle for the return trip to the ship the beautiful day could not cut through the tension that surrounded them. Heero was glad to see that Relena was taking his words to heart and was as far from him as possible. His anger at her had not diminished any overnight and he still wanted to strangle her for what she had done to him and Duo. He looked over at Captain Merquise and saw him talking quietly to the bowed head beside him. Watching the young man, Heero knew that the Captain had a lot of work ahead of him. He made a mental note to make sure that he included all of this in his report to his father. He was still worried that there could be repercussions to taking the man on board. He thought back to the night that Duo told him about the young man and remembered that his name was Wufei. His attention was diverted when he saw Duo walk towards the pilots, frowning he looked at the clothing that Duo wore. Instead of his dress uniform Duo was wearing a blue flight suit. Before he could think of why this was the King came forward to speak to him one last time.
"Ambassador, I came to wish you all a safe trip back to your ship."
"Thank you, Your Highness. I hope that someday soon we will be able to meet again under happier circumstances." Heero said giving a slight bow.
"I hope for that day too, Ambassador." the King replied with his own slight bow.
Heero watched as the King and his husband walked over to Captain Merquise and the young man beside him. Turning, he walked up the stairs to the door of the shuttle. He knew that he would not be able to speak to Duo until they were back on board the Andromeda so he would spend the flight making plans on how to proceed with winning his husband back. He had spent the night going over all that had happened in his mind and by morning knew that he could not let Duo go. Regardless of what happened three years ago he still loved Duo with all his heart and he knew that somehow he would win back Duo's love.
Taking his seat and strapping in he watched as the others soon boarded after him. He saw Captain Merquise strap Wufei into a seat and then walk towards the cockpit. He was surprised when he saw one of the pilots walk in and go towards the front with the Captain. When the door to the shuttle was closed he jerked his head towards the window and watched as Duo walked to one of the fighters and climbed aboard. He frowned as he realized what Duo was doing; he was once again running from the situation. Instead of being in the same shuttle as Heero he was going to fly one of the fighters back to the ship. He would give Duo his time needed but once they were back on board they would talk. He settled back into his seat, closing his eyes and waited for the shuttle to take off.
Duo sat down in the cockpit of the fighter and set about doing the preflight checklist. It had been a while since he had flown this type of fighter but once he started the checklist he found it was like riding a bicycle, once you learned you never forgot how to do it. Once finished with the checklist he started the machine up, waiting for the tower to give them clearance to leave. He had decided to fly back to the ship this way early this morning. He had hoped that this would help him to clear his head as well as keep him far from Heero. He had not slept well, tossing and turning in the bed all the while his thoughts on Heero. It wasn't until the sun had rose that he came to the realization that he was still in love with Heero and probably always would be. His problem however, was what to do next. Should he just wait and see what happened or should he try and work things out with him? Those were questions that he had no answer for.
The tower announced that they had clearance to leave and he pushed the joystick forward to start down the runway. Slowly speeding up he saw the end of the runway ahead of him and he pushed the button on the side of the stick and soon was pushed back in his seat as the g-forces pushed them towards space. Once in space he looked around at the stars and realized that he missed flying in space. It was always so peaceful and calm. He settled back in his seat more and allowed Lt. Barton to take point. The flight was smooth for the first fifteen minutes but then he looked down at his radar and noticed that there were other fighters coming towards them. Worried, he put a call out to Lt. Barton.
"Lt. we have fighters coming in at three o'clock."
"I see them Commander, I am trying to see what type of fighter they are." There was a moment of silence before Duo heard, "Shit, Commander we have a squadron of Dakarian fighters coming in fast and furious. Beta team, take evasive action we must not let them get to the shuttle. Quatre keep an eye out behind you; don't let them get close to the shuttle. Have your team surround the shuttle and continue on to the ship, we will hold them off."
"Roger that Trowa. We are on it. I have the point lead, gamma team let's get this shuttle home."
Duo switched frequencies and called to ship knowing that Dorothy would be on the bridge. "Andromeda this is the Commander."
"Commander this is the Andromeda."
"XO, we have a Dakarian squadron on our ass. Prepare battle stations. The Orion is on its way with an ETA of ten minutes. Make sure nothing happens to that shuttle."
"Roger that Commander. Battle stations are up. I have delta and zeta squadrons on its way to you sir, with sigma and omega surrounding the ship."
"Copy that XO. Delta squadron you will join up with gamma squadron and lead the shuttle back to the ship. Zeta squadron you will meet up with us to get these bastards off our asses."
"Roger that Commander." said the delta squadron leader.
"Roger that." replied the zeta squadron leader.
"Captain Merquise, get that shuttle to the ship as quickly as you can. I am entrusting you to their care." said Duo.
"Roger that Commander. Be careful out there gentlemen. Orion out." replied Zechs.
Duo watched as gamma squadron flew into formation around the Orion. Once his radar showed the other squadron's race towards their orders he banked hard right and flew off towards the enemy.
TBC...
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