Author's Note: The winner of the bet between Wufei and Trowa was determined by my dear friend, Leslie! *holds loser off from attacking* So, Leslie, I hope you enjoy!!

Life... Really Part 5

Danielle Yuy blew over the top of her cup of tea as she read over the reports for her troubling case. Having to defend a very high profile politician, like Mark Johnson, against first degree murder was proving to have its challenges.

While one would have thought that such a man could not be touched, the prosecution had gathered quite a bit of incriminating evidence that they considered evidence that may sway the jury the wrong way... at least the wrong way where she was concerned.

Chuckling deeply, Danielle sipped from her tea, her curly red ringlets of hair falling off her shoulders. She continued to read the files of the case built up against her client.

Of course, Senator Johnson had killed his wife, and the man with whom she was having her little affair. Danielle knew that her client was guilty. Having gone through all of the crime lab results and clues that had been sloppily left behind, there was no question in her mind that the man was guilty.

Still... for the amount of money that a victory in this case would bring to the Yuy firm, Danielle would have him painted off as a saint by the end of the trial without batting an eye.

The prosecutor's head would spin, what happened to the case they had built against the clear criminal. No one would be after the Senator when this was done, and none would see him as anything but an innocent man who was charged for a crime he did not commit.

This was the way in Danielle's line of work. It was what brought such a luxurious lifestyle to her and her late husband.

Lowering her cup and removing her wire frame glasses from her nose, she looked up from the reports and sighed deeply. Odin. In one week, it would be the anniversary of his passing. It would be one year already.

Knowing that if Odin were able, he would come back just to tell her to stop sulking and continue working, Danielle placed her glasses back on. Of course she missed her husband terribly, but death was just a part of life.

At least when he passed, Odin had everything that he could have ever dreamed of owning. Not many were as lucky as they had been. And Danielle was determined to see that Heero followed in his father's footsteps, as they had planned from the time he was born.

Nothing was going to keep Heero from the path that was set for him. He was destined to be just like his father.

Sifting through the reports on the table, Danielle felt something brush up against her leg. Looking down, the redheaded woman found the brown kitten that her son had brought into the house. He was rubbing the side of his furry body against her leg as his violet eyes looked up at her.

It had been almost a month since Heero had asked his mother to allow him to keep the feline. Coming home from her business trip in relation to the Johnson trial, Danielle was pleasantly surprised to see just how true to his word to her had been in taking full responsibility for the kitten.

The kitten continued to look up at the young woman with those brilliant eyes wide open in curiosity. While she never liked being disturbed when she was working, Danielle couldn't help the small smile on her face. "I take it this is how you got Heero to want to keep you so badly," she chuckled.

Unable to understand what she was saying, Duo sat and tilted his head, his nametag jingling softly with every movement of his neck. Those eyes were the most remarkable things that Danielle had ever seen on a cat before, she had to admit. With their violet shade, they seemed alluring yet there was something haunting about them at the same time.

Reaching down to pat the top of his head, Danielle sighed, "Well, I suppose you bring him the companionship he needs, so I shouldn't complain." Duo purred deeply as he nuzzled his face against her hand.

There was something very special about this particular kitten, Danielle was convinced.

She had been certain that when she returned from the business trip that she had been on while the feline was brought into her house, she would regret ever allowing such an animal to live there. Instead, she actually felt a certain fondness for him, even if she would never admit to it.

Heero came into the room, looking around anxiously. Danielle smiled at him and pointed down to the floor beside her. Looking under the table, he recovered his missing pet and frowned, "Duo."

Startled by the sound of his owner's voice, the kitten turned quickly to face him. When their eyes met, Duo ran up to the teenage boy as he was scooped up easily with one hand.

Still frowning, Heero said quietly, "Sorry, Mom. I didn't mean for him to get away to disturb you." He glared down at the kitten, only for his scowl to fade when Duo meowed innocently up at him.

His mother chuckled deeply and waved her hand nonchalantly as she replied, "It's all right. He doesn't interrupt me all that often at all. You've been true to your word to take care of him." At that, Heero smiled in relief.

Looking to her watch, Danielle added, "I am going to be leaving for another meeting again soon, anyway." She gathered up the loose papers from the table before stacking them neatly and placing them in her leather folder.

"Be a good lad and see to those odds and ends that I need to have worked out before Monday," the young woman told her son in a firm, but affectionate tone.

Heero nodded firmly, "Of course. I am finished with more than half of the projects now. They'll be finished before long."

A proud smile appeared on his mother's face as she approached. "That's my good boy. I never have to worry when I have your assistance," she said sincerely as she leaned forward and pecked him on the cheek.

Jumping up onto Heero shoulder, his usual perch, Duo blinked his wide eyes at the boy's mother. Danielle laughed, "All right, you too." She reached up and patted the top of his furry head to be rewarded with another nuzzle and a round of purring. Heero chuckled deeply.

Zechs stepped into the living room, his long black chauffer coat on, as he announced, "The car is ready, madam."

With a nod to the tall man, Danielle finished closing her briefcase and replied, "Thank you, Zechs." Quickly mentally checking off what she needed, she was satisfied that everything was at her disposal.

Pulling her suit coat on, Heero's mother kissed his cheek again as she told him, "This will most likely run pretty late. I am going to be having dinner with the board members after out meeting, so I will see you tomorrow."

"Okay," Heero replied, rubbing the top of Duo's head as the kitten continued to lie stretched across his shoulder. "Have a good night."

Giving him a wink, Danielle stepped out of the house, Zechs holding the door open for her. Following her out, the tall man closed the door behind them.

*   *   *   *   *   *

That afternoon, walking into the living room of the Barton residence, Heero found his three friends.

Quatre was watching Trowa and Wufei in amusement, as they grunted and yelled, trying to get their space ships to take their opponent out. They were both lying on the floor in front of the large flat-screened television, playing one of the many video games that Trowa owned.

The Arab looked up from where he was chuckling to himself. His smile grew as he waved and greeted, "Hey, Heero." Wufei and Trowa paused the video game as they turned back to welcome their friend.

Heero smirked and removed his backpack from his shoulder. Tossing it onto the floor, he spoke to the tallest of the group. "I hope you don't mind me just stopping by like this."

A friendly smile bloomed on Trowa's face as he answered, "You're welcome anytime, you know that." Gesturing with his head to the book bag on the floor, he asked, "More assignments from your mom?"

"Yea," Heero nodded, "This case that she is preparing is pretty...what the-" He stopped in mid sentence when the book bag began to stir. His friends all watched with wide eyes. Through the opening at the top of the bag, a furry little head poked out, gazing around at its new surroundings.

Quatre, Trowa and Wufei fell into laugher at the sight of the kitten, who looked up to his master and gave a small meow. Duo's wide, violet eyes were filled with mischief.

It was a similar scene to a child giving as pitiful a look as they could muster to make their parent forget that they were sneaking into the cookie jar when they should not have been.

Sighing deeply, Heero couldn't help but smirk, "Duo, you little stowaway." Bending down, he pulled the zipper down more to make the opening at the top of his book bag big enough for his pet to jump out.

From where he sat on the floor, Wufei barely managed to contain his laughter as he commented, "Well, he'll have a better chance at beating me at this game than Trowa is having right now."

Beside him, Trowa snorted, "Well, I might not win this, but it looks like you're going to be losing our little bet that we made."

Sitting beside Quatre, Heero leaned forward and asked, "Merian still not giving you the time of day, Chang? You only have a week before the dance."

Duo curled up on Heero's lap as he watched the video game being played on the large thing that looked like a window to him. Normally, the furry creature would have found such a new place something that he needed to explore, to learn. Somehow, however, he was always content to be around the human that had given him a home.

Quatre folded his arms behind his back and grinned, "My sisters are willing to help when the loser is decided, since I had a chance to warn them in advance."

The blonde youth smiled at Duo as he reached over to pat the top of his head and commented, "You don't want to have to face another defeat like the last time do you?"

Lowering his controller, Wufei yelled, "I'm working on it, alright!"

The heads of his three friends fell back as they laughed out loud in disbelief of his strategy. Glaring at Trowa, The Chinese teenager growled, "You're lucky I consider you a brother." At that, the others just laughed louder.

Trowa snickered as he crawled over to the couch behind them to pat the kitten's head. Duo all but fell into the touch as he nuzzled his face into the hand of the tall teenager and purred loudly.

As if he was speaking to a child, Trowa smiled and cooed, "Hello, Duo. Uncle Wufei is pwetty scared that he is going to lose another bet, isn't he?"

"We'll just have to wait and see what happens," Wufei said with a roll of his eyes before moving to the couch as well. Once Trowa allowed him to get a hand in to pat the kitten, the Chinese teenager smirked at the furry little stowaway as Duo leaned into his touch.

Chuckling, Quatre shook his head and sighed, "Finally, something to keep the two of you from your constant bickering." His smile turned wistful as he said, "It is something, having an actual kitten in the group."

Both Trowa and Wufei gave their own nods of agreement, their prior argument forgotten altogether. Duo stretched as he rose from his owner's lap and walked towards the three teenagers, who looked ready to play with him.

While his friends entertained his pet, Heero smirked as he picked up a few of his folders from the backpack and he set back to work on the assignments that his mother had left him.

As he worked and talked with his friends, he would look up from the papers that he was focused on to smile as he watched the kitten.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Noin had just finished setting the table when Heero returned with Duo. She shared a concerned look with Zechs before they took their seats. As the boy approached, the blonde man frowned deeply and began, "Heero, we've been looking everywhere for Duo and-"

Before Zechs could finish his sentence, Heero just smiled at him and Duo's head popped out from his backpack over his shoulder.

When the kitten meowed innocently at the wide eyes of the chauffer and young maid, Heero broke out into a full belly laughter. Both Zechs and Noin sighed deeply as their tense shoulders sagged.

Reaching over to gather his kitten into his hand, the teenager smiled, "Somehow, he managed to sneak into my backpack before I left for Trowa's."

Both guardians fell into laughter, both in their relief and at the sight that the kitten made when he suddenly appeared from the bag. For the last few hours, they had been dreading having to tell the boy that his kitten was missing.

Heero lowered the kitten onto the floor carefully. Without hesitating, Duo scurried over to his filled milk and soft foot as he ate happily after his exciting trip. Around him, the humans sat at the table for their own meal.

After eating in silence for some time, Noin decided to start a conversation. "I am sure that your mother will be happy when this trial finally begins in three weeks," she stated.

Nodding as he sucked on the end of his thumb to remove some of the meat sauce that gathered there, Heero replied, "With a high profile cast like this, she has to make sure that she isn't overlooking anything. I haven't seen her as busy as she has been these last couple months in a while."

As he cut into his slice of pot roast, Zechs told him, "I know that your mother appreciates all of the help that you've been providing. A case like this will mean a lot for the firm."

"Well, I should have everything that she gave me finished tomorrow," Heero said. "My school assignments are finished and I am still ahead of what's being taught in all of my classes."

Noin tilted her head as she inquired, "In speaking of school, there is only a couple of months left. I haven't heard you mentioning anything if there is going to be a Freshman dance."

A deep frown fell on Heero's face as he cleared his throat before answering quietly, "There is one. It's next Friday night." At that, the eyes of his guardians widened.

His head lowered, the boy shrugged and admitted, "I told the others that there was a board meeting that I had to attend, so I couldn't make it. Besides, with this case and all, my mother would never have allowed me to attend such an event."

While that end of it was true, Noin was still trying to find her voice. Finally, she whispered sadly, "I-I'm sorry, Heero..."

Meeting her gaze, the Japanese teenager assured her, "It's all right, Noin. I know that you had no idea." As he rose from his seat, Heero forced a smile and said, "Dinner was very nice, thank you. I should head upstairs and return to my research."

Before the others could reply, Heero left the dining room. Duo was in the middle of grooming himself when the boy quickly departed. Lowering his front right paw from his mouth, the kitten sprang up and ran after him as the boy made his way up to his room.

Noin lowered her head with a deep, saddened frown. With a small, reassuring smile, Zechs said quietly, "You don't have to feel bad for anything, Noin."

The dark-haired woman shrugged, "I just feel like a heel for how I brought up the whole thing. I never wanted to make him upset."

Folding his arms, the tall man replied curtly, "Well, you should be sorry. Think of the pain that you caused Heero without realizing that you were doing it. I don't think he'll ever be able to forgive you." Noin looked up at him with a half-hearted glare that faded into a small grin as she threw her cloth napkin at him.

Zechs caught the napkin easily as he laughed, "At least I made you smile." He became serious again as he said sincerely, "Don't worry about Heero. He just needs some space and time to himself to deal with this."

"You're right," the young maid finally agreed with a small smile of gratitude on her face. "We might as well start clearing the table."

An indignant look on his face, the chauffer all but shouted, "I am not helping the likes of you, walking over people's feelings without any regard!"

Noin smirked at him as she growled, "Zechs. Don't get me started." With another full laugh from his lungs, the young man relented from his game and rose to assist the young woman whom he knew he had fallen for.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Upstairs, Heero closed the bedroom door behind him, only a small slither left open for Duo, as he ran in just in time. He was so lost in his thoughts that he never saw his pet enter make his way inside.

Quickly going to his desk, the human removed the folders from his backpack that he gathered before leaving the living room. Sorting through the reports that he had to look into, he dove into his work.

On the bed on the other side of the room, Duo lied down, his head just hanging over the side of the mattress as he watched Heero working at his computer. The rapid clicking of the keys on the keyboard painted the image of how fast the teenager's fingers were typing.

While the kitten was used to the routine of his owner working every night, he could sense that there was something wrong. His toys forgotten, Duo just waited and watched his owner patiently. This was more important to him.

Heero lost track of the time, losing himself in the work left for him. When he finished with the tasks that his mother needed finished, he emailed her associates to send more work. Attacking the reports that were faxed in, his thoughts were beginning to catch up with him.

The dance was the furthest thing from Heero's mind, whether or not he would have been allowed to attend. Getting to experience such social events were never a commodity to him in the first place, so it wasn't as if he was really missing out on anything he had been used to.

What was on Heero's mind was that the night of the Freshman dance was the first year anniversary of his father's death. It hardly seemed like it was already approaching a year since the accident that had changed everything.

Shaking his head to clear his mind again, Heero went back to his work. If there was anything good that came from having so much to do, it was a good distraction from having to face reality. Having to deal with his conflicting emotions was something he did not want to have to cope with now.

*   *   *   *   *   *

It was late in the evening before Heero finally tired in his efforts. He looked over at the clock at the edge of his deck to see that it was 12:36 am. Rubbing his eyes, the Japanese teenager sighed deeply before stretching.

There was a soft meow from the floor, making the boy's head look down quickly, to see his tiny kitten sitting at his feet. The bright violet eyes watched him intently as his tail swished from side-to-side. Blinking his cobalt eyes in surprise, Heero whispered, "Duo?"

As the mention of his name, the kitten's legs parted a bit as his bottom wiggled before he leapt gracefully into Heero's lap. Duo placed his front paws on his owner's chest as he stretched up to get as close to the teenager's face.

With a sad smile, Heero raised his hand to pat the top of the furry head as he said quietly, "I didn't know that you were in here this whole time." Purring deeply, Duo leaned into the gentle touch and closed his eyes.

Carefully, Heero rose with the kitten in his hand as he shut down the fax machine and computer. Placing Duo on the bed so that he could remove his shirt and change into a pair of grey sweatpants, he climbed onto the mattress, himself. As he settled down, pulling the blanket over himself, he watched as Duo curled into a ball beside his head on the large pillow.

Sighing softly, Heero reached up and gently stroked the kitten's soft brown fur. When Duo looked up, he uncurled himself and leaned his head forward, licking the boy's cheek with his small tongue. It was only then that Heero realized that he had been crying. He gave a small grin to his pet when he finished licking the tears away.

"You know the strange thing," the teenager began quietly. "I'm crying over the loss of someone I never really knew." Duo just moved closer, nuzzling his own face against the damp cheek before him.

Heero's smile grew and he placed a soft kiss atop the kitten's head before closing his cobalt eyes. Content only when he could tell that his owner was sleeping peacefully, his companion moved. Curling back into a ball with the humans hand gently lying on his furry body, Duo sighed softly before falling asleep.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Quatre snapped another picture with his digital camera as he exclaimed excitedly, "Aw, that one is going to turn out beautifully!"

Beside him, Heero was snapping yet another picture for himself with his own camera. "I still can't believe that you pulled it off, Wufei," he complimented. Duo ran past their feet, chasing a butterfly as it flew close to the ground.

Nodding, the Arab looked back to his Chinese friend and asked, "Yea, how did you manage to get Merian to agree to go to the dance last night with you on such short notice?"

His arms crossed, his back leaned against the house siding, Wufei chuckled deeply, "A healthy dose of groveling does wonders. Not to mention a promise to show her the pictures from today."

"Damn," Heero chuckled deeply, "I wish I was there to have pictures of that. Wufei Chang begging. That must have been a sight." Quatre was laughing and nodding his agreement.

A smug smirk on his lips, Wufei shrugged, "Hey, whatever works. It helped me win the bet. And now my parents have a freshly cut lawn." Craning his neck, he called over the sound of the motor, "You missed a spot, Trowa!"

Quatre cupped a hand to the side of his mouth as he called, "And smile for the camera! I promised Iria that she would get to see what we've been up to!"

"Go to hell!" the tall teenager yelled back, his friends laughing all the louder.

Sighing deeply, Trowa grumbled to himself as he adjusted the dressy sunhat over his brunette head. He had to adjust the skirt of the pink dress that he was wearing to be able to make another turn on the lawnmower.

Heero snickered, "Sad thing is, he looks better in that dress than your sister."

Beside him, Quatre nodded, "Yea, but I'll never tell Iria that. I value my life."

As the lawnmower continued to make its laps around the many acres of grass of the Chang backyard, Heero spotted Duo as he continued to lead and run after the butterfly floating by. The boy smiled warmly.

Wufei finished taking yet another shot with his camera before announcing, "Well, he only has one more lap to go before he's finished."

"Yep, better get a head start to hide the evidence," Quatre suggested.

At that, the three teenagers took off in a rush as Trowa's voice shouted after them, "Hey! Get back here with those pictures!"

TBC...

 

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