Operation: Lost Boys Part 6
Wendy frowned as she watched the sunset. There was something... 'I'm being silly. He's just a nice guy who likes being friendly. It's not as if I'm uncomfortable around him.' She watched as the people started entering the mansion. Soon the children would be there as well. 'I don't understand any of those guys!'
"Ah... here you are. Maxwell said you were probably up here." Wufei looked around.
"Duo has a big mouth. I come up here to get away from people... not to have them follow me." She sighed. "Why did you come after me?"
"Yuy and Maxwell are having a rematch, otherwise Maxwell would be here. He's nervous for some reason."
Wendy frowned at him. "Yuy and Maxwell? Do you have something against calling people by their first names?"
"No. I was raised to respect others, nothing more." Wufei sat down.
"And yet you insult Duo at every chance you get. I don't understand it at all. How can you be respectful and insulting at the same time?"
Wufei smiled a little. "I merely jest with him. It's a way of keeping myself from losing control. As you stated, he has a sharp mind. I think we both enjoy the verbal sparring. I never mean it seriously."
Wendy nodded. "Still... I think he'd be more comfortable if you called him by his first name. I think they all would." She smiled a little.
"I shall keep that in mind. Now, if you will excuse me, I believe we both have to get ready for the party tonight. You have guests to greet."
Wendy watched Wufei leave and then turned to watch as three busses approached. "Are you one of the kids, Mel? Are you finally coming home?"
*****
Duo grinned at the sheer number of kids. He had always had a soft spot for kids younger than him. "Okay... okay! I'll do another trick, but this has to be the last one!" He kept the smile in place, but inside he felt his heart breaking for Wendy's sake. There were no kids old enough to be the brother Wendy was searching for so desperately. He saw the pain in her expression as he pulled a chocolate coin from a girl's ear. "Now get into the ballroom and meet your families." He walked over to where Wendy was trying her hardest not to cry. "Maybe... maybe he'll be here next year."
Wendy shook her head. "I can't do this anymore. I... I was so SURE that he'd be here this year. To make matters worse... I just got a call from the hospital. They're re-evaluating my mother, so she won't be here until almost New Years." She let out a deep sigh. "I'll keep searching, but I don't think I'll ever find him. There are just too many people out there." She tried to smile at the rest of the pilots. "You all look great."
Trowa walked over and pulled Wendy into a quick hug. "I'm sorry."
Wendy shook her head. "No... don't be. It isn't your fault. This happens every year. I get my hopes up only to have them crash around me." She took a deep breath and gave them a shaky smile. "I'll be all right. Don't let this spoil the party." She watched as the others went into the ballroom, then gazed at the main door as if she expected her brother to come bounding in. 'I'd better stop this, or I'll be in the hospital next to Mama.' She shook her head and turned to the ballroom. She would be forced to smile when inside, she was screaming with grief.
*****
Duo looked up and felt a lump in his throat grow as a piano intro warned him that one song in particular was about to start.
*FLASH*
"Now take her hand... one two three four, one two three four..."
*END FLASH*
Hilde smiled. "Are we going to dance?"
Duo shook his head. "Sorry... this song is always one reserved for one person in particular. And since she's not here..." Not caring how it looked, he walked onto the dance floor alone and bowed to an invisible partner. He closed his eyes to envision her perfectly as he started to dance. He wasn't aware of the crowd parting, or that Wendy was also on the floor alone. He certainly didn't notice that she was matching his moves step for step perfectly.
Hilde watched in awe at the two dancers. She was aware of the other boys staring as well.
Quatre slowly smiled... knowing that it had to be more than a mere coincidence that Wendy and Duo were dancing as if with one another.
Heero's eyes narrowed... he felt like he was missing something.
The two dancers suddenly met in the middle of the dance floor when Duo raised his hand after bowing and Wendy raised her own hand after a curtsey. They both froze and their eyes snapped open. For a minute, they just stared at one another.
Wendy was the one who broke the silence. Her voice was just above a whisper, and her tone was full of amazed hope. "Mel?"
Duo smiled slowly as pure happiness welled within him for the first time since he was a child, then he nodded. "Hey, brat." Then, without warning, he gave her a quick hug and resumed dancing, this time taking Wendy with him... knowing by looking into her eyes that she shared his joy.
Hilde felt a surge of jealousy. Duo was HER boyfriend, and here he was dancing with a girl as if they belonged together. "When I get my hands on that boyfriend stealing..." It didn't help when Duo pulled Wendy into another tight hug as the song ended. She missed the fact that Wendy's shoulders were shaking.
Duo was grinning from ear to ear as he walked towards the group, not noticing that Hilde was fuming. He was happier than he had been in years. "Hey, guys, get this!" He blinked as Hilde grabbed his arm.
Wendy blinked as Hilde glared at her. "What?"
"He's MY boyfriend until he breaks up with me!"
Wendy's eyes widened a second, then she cleared her throat in an effort to mask her soft, slightly waterlogged, laughter.
Hilde narrowed her eyes. "What's so funny?"
Wendy shook her head. "You assume quite a bit without knowing all the facts." She wiped her eye.
Hilde blinked as she realized that Wendy was on the verge of tears. "What?"
Duo chuckled. "Hilde... guys... meet Harmony, my kid sister." He yelped when 'Wendy' punched him in the arm. "What?"
"I'm ONLY ten minutes younger than you are! Can I help it if you were born five minutes before midnight and I was born five minutes AFTER midnight?" She didn't even bother to wipe the tears away as she giggled before latching onto Duo again.
Quatre's smile widened. He had KNOWN something was up. "Twins!"
Heero nodded. "Yeah... now that I'm looking, I can see it." Both were slim with the exact same hair color. Their facial features were similar... and they both had the exact same smile. He blinked as Duo suddenly looked up and spoke two words.
"I'm sorry!" He chuckled as he grabbed his sister and swung her around a few times. "MAN! This is better than a sugar rush!" He pressed his head against hers. "I guess I hafta start believing in God now. Finding you again was definitely a miracle!"
Wufei glanced at Wendy... no... Harmony. "Your family member you were searching for?"
Harmony was sobbing happily and she nodded at Wufei while hugging Duo as if she never intended to let him go. Duo, for his part, looked like he would be happy if she never did.
Trowa grinned. "I guess all those wishes paid off after all."
Hilde almost started to feel jealous again, but she just couldn't bring herself to it. She often felt that Duo deserved to have someone to call his family, and she was not about to deny him that. 'Besides,' she thought with a smile, 'It's only natural that he feels this way. They haven't seen each other for at least a decade and each thought the other was dead. Add the fact that they're twins.' She sighed. 'That had to be rough on him.'
"I have a question for you." At Duo's curious look, Harmony smiled sweetly and grabbed his shoulders. Then she took a deep breath before she started shaking him. "Where WERE you? We went NUTS looking for you!"
Duo's normally jovial expression darkened. "I hitched a ride on a ship and joined up with a gang of war orphans on Colony V08744."
Harmony gasped. "Colony V08744? But that colony was a bed of plagues! I thought you were sent there just to stay in Maxwell Church!"
"I told you about that. The plague wiped a few of my friends out before I stole some of the antidote from a hospital. I was the leader after Solo died until we were taken to Maxwell Church. I lived there for about a year before the federation came and destroyed it."
Harmony wrapped her arms around Duo to comfort him. "Oh, Mel... you shoulda come home! I was crushed when you weren't there."
Quatre blinked. "MEL? Duo's name is MEL?"
Duo flushed. "Don't start, PLEASE? I never was crazy about my name and got teased about it a great deal."
Harmony laughed as Duo blushed. "Mama loved music, so when the doctors asked our dad what he wanted to name us, he immediately answered that Harmony and Melody would be perfect. The doctors neglected to mention that 'Melody' was a boy. His name was shortened to Mel." Then she shook her head. "Although I like Duo! It fits you somehow." She grinned as Quatre turned purple in an effort not to laugh. "Can I help it if our dad was a nitwit?" Then she bit her lip and squeezed Duo.
"What is it? You're crying again!" Duo wondered if Harmony found him lacking in some way.
Harmony shook her head and let out a watery laugh. "It's just... after eleven years!" She cupped Duo's face in her hands. "I finally got the only thing I wanted for Christmas! I got my brother back!"
Duo chuckled and rested his forehead against hers. "And I finally got a family!" He sighed and released her. "It's been so long! I don't know if I'll be much of a brother." He blinked as she started laughing in earnest. "What? What did I say?"
"You're too funny for words, bro! How long have we been at Château Neverland? We've played pranks on the others, had snowball fights... and we've talked when we needed to. You've been settling into brotherly ways without realizing it!" She smiled fondly. "We're the yin and yang... two sides of the same coin! Different as night and day, but part of the overall whole. Don't worry about trying to be a brother. Just be you, and that will be more than enough for me." She reached over and tugged Duo's braid. "All right? Now dance with Hilde before she gets jealous again! I have to get ready for my last official performance of the year." She squeezed him once more and kissed his cheek.
*****
About a half an hour later, Duo was in the middle of an arm wrestling competition with a kid half his age. He could have beaten the kid easily, but he remembered what a boost it was to one's self-esteem to be able to overcome a tough obstacle. So he bared his teeth and made a show of struggling to keep his hand upright. When there were murmurs from the other children and their families, Duo looked up and let his arm go slack. The kid crowed in delight as Duo's hand hit the table.
Wufei turned to see what the commotion was about and felt his mouth go dry. 'Where did that angel come from?'
Duo stood up and gazed at his sister in disbelief. She had changed from her simple party dress and into an ethereal gown of white. Her chestnut hair fell past her waist in soft waves. Music came from speakers all over the ballroom.
Harmony had become the Diva, Medly Starr, for the last time that year. She looked across at her brother and beamed at him as she took a breath to sing.
"If I cannot bring you comfort...
Then at least I bring you home.
For nothing is more precious
Than the time we sown.
"We all must learn from small misfortune
Count the blessings that are real
Let the bells ring out for Christmas
At the closing of the year...
"Let the bells ring out for Christmas
At the closing of the year!"
Suddenly, the doors behind her opened to reveal a splendid Christmas Tree surrounded by near mountains of gifts for the children. They cheered as the charged past the singer, who had a smile on her face as she approached Duo. "Mama started this... hoping that, one day, YOU would be one of the children to enter our doorway." She chuckled sadly. "Problem is... as years passed, she didn't look for older children. I was powerless to do anything substantial until a talent scout found me singing at a Karaoke bar on a youth talent night."
Duo stopped his sister. "Ma... mama?" He suddenly remembered since Harmony was his sister, and her mother was alive... that his mother was alive as well.
Something about Duo's tone made Harmony almost weep. There was such longing in his face that it pierced her heart. "She's late this year." She let her tears fall for her brother. "I... I just got the call this morning. If I had known, Duo, I would have insisted that she be allowed to leave as soon as possible! She's never given up on the hope of finding you!" She paused and frowned in thought. "Which reminds me... I have to tell the people they can stop their search for you... I..." One look at Duo's face silenced her, and she wrapped her arms around her brother. She sniffled. "It's not FAIR!!! The year of the Maxwell Church tragedy... we had invited them to bring you! It's just so not FAIR to you, Duo!"
For the first time since he could remember, Duo wept openly at the grief that welled within him. "Mama's alive?" The very thought made him long for the warmth he remembered. He suddenly ached to see the woman who had given birth to him and who sang to him. To touch the woman who had tended to his childhood scrapes and had kissed him goodnight.
Harmony choked on a sob as she rubbed her brother's back. "She'll be here within the week! She'll be here soon. You'll see her soon." She kissed Duo on the cheek. "Hey..." She smiled at him. "You WILL see her soon." She reached up and played with his bangs. "So stop crying and enjoy the rest of the party, okay?"
Duo smiled at his sister. 'My SISTER!' His smile widened and he turned away. 'I have a sister! I have a mother!' He smiled at Hilde, who was gazing at him in concern. "I have... I have a family!"
TBC...
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