CHAPTER FIVE:

 

If these walls could talk, they would probably be screaming and running for the hills at this very moment, for the pregnant silence that had descended in the bedroom was more than deafening.

 

Heero could feel his cheeks begin to burn with heat even though he kept his eyes stubbornly fixed on the blank-looking ones before him.

 

A furry ear twitched, closely followed by the tail bristling and before Heero could make another sound, he felt a sharp pain on his nose, causing him to almost drop Duo in surprise. The kitty had punched him.

 

“Duo…” he began only to be silenced by the thunderous roar of the agitated braided pilot.

 

“You think you are so funny, don’t you, Heero?! Put me down now!!!”

 

“I am not trying to be funny…”

 

Wufei mumbled out a soft ‘Like that’s a surprise’ even though he remained gawking at the scenario in fascination.

 

Quatre made a move towards the couple, but was held back by Trowa, who shook his head slowly. Giving a light frown at being denied a chance to intervene, the blond willingly sat back, more than ready to jump in at the slightest sign of trouble.

 

“Put me down, Heero! I am warning you!!”

 

At the back of his mind, the Japanese pilot was beginning to wonder why Duo wasn’t changing yet. Hadn’t he put enough of his emotions into the words? And damn it all, he had forgotten to ask the woman if the effect was immediate or not. Curse his ill luck. Not only had he embarrassed himself, he had now made Duo even angrier than before.

 

“Was that the antidote?” Trowa asked quietly.

 

Heero opened up his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by Wufei’s yawn of weariness. “Geez, if that was the antidote than it was one hell of a crappy medication. Maybe we should just look for the woman when we return from the trip. Night, guys. We’ve got an early flight tomorrow.”

 

That was the last straw for our little one. “You should talk! I have to remain stuck in this form because of some stupid assed antidote!!” He spun back to face Heero with his eyes narrowed into slits of anger. “You love me?! You love me?! Don’t make me laugh!”

 

Suddenly, all the fight ebbed away from his body, causing him to plop down wearily on the Japanese boy’s palm. All the running around and excitement he had felt at finally being able to convert to his original form had been sent right down the drain with Heero’s words.

 

“Please put me down, Heero,” he mumbled wearily as he lowered his lashes. “I just wanna sleep now…”

 

The other pilots felt a sense of shame wash over their beings as Heero gently placed Duo back into his bed. They watched as he reached for his blanket to cover his trembling form, successfully hiding his presence. In other words, Duo was no longer in the mood to speak to anyone anymore.

 

Heero stared at the pixie’s form for a moment longer before spinning on his heels and practically running out of the room.

 

If and when they found that woman again, he was going to personally kill her with his bare hands.

 

“Hey, Heero,” came the soft voice that had him freezing in his tracks in the hallway. He didn’t turn around but he knew that the other three pilots were standing behind him and it was Quatre that had called him.

 

“What is it?” he asked curtly, not really in the mood to speak to anyone.

 

Trowa asked. “How did you know that that was the antidote? Did you meet the woman?”

 

For a moment, Heero debated on whether or not to say anything, but he finally relented by speaking in rather clipped tones. “I met her yesterday in the square. She told me that if I was able to tell Duo how I really felt for him, he would change back to his real form.”

 

A soft ‘Oh’ ran through his audience and turning around, the Japanese pilot stared at them with a faint look of worry and panic in his depths. “Why didn’t it work? He was supposed to have changed by now, right? Didn’t I sound sincere enough?”

 

Wufei gave a light snort. “Well, if someone walked up to me and told me that they loved me just like that, I think I would probably freak out as well, Heero.”

 

Quatre nodded in agreement. “And besides, we have been together all these years and…and…” He turned to Trowa for help.

 

“And Duo has had those kinds of feelings for you all this time and you never responded to him. So, why should he believe you now?”

 

The sound of something cracking had them all spinning around sharply as they stared at the new dent on the wall. Heero had punched it in frustration.

 

“Well, I think I have embarrassed everyone enough for one night,” he finally muttered softly. “I will go to bed now. Goodnight.”

 

They watched him enter his bedroom and slam the door shut behind him, each remaining lost in their thoughts until...

 

“So…anyone up for late night coffee? I don’t think I can get to sleep now,” Wufei commented dryly as he began to make his way towards the kitchen.

 

Trowa gave a soft nod, holding up the pillows and blankets he had salvaged from their bedroom. “I think Quatre and I will sleep in the living room. I think Duo needs some time alone right now.”

 

And as they all made themselves comfortable around the kitchen table, waiting for their beverage to brew, the three pilots could only agree on one thing – things were bound to get really interesting around the house from now on.

 

__

 

Duo panted harshly as he leaned against the wall to catch his breath. It was a good thing that Trowa and Quatre had left the room or he would have been unable to carry out his plan. He eyed their bedroom door, cursing beneath his breath as he realized that thanks to Heero shutting it, he would have no other choice but to go through Wufei’s bedroom.

 

What a pain.

 

But beneath it all, Duo’s heart was still pounding with something more than just his exertion. Even though he had scoffed at Heero’s confession, it had sent his heart fluttering at the intensity he had felt from the Japanese boy. There had been no pretense in those words. And if Duo knew Heero well enough by now, he had to know that the Japanese boy was not capable of just doing such impromptu things.

 

Short of walking on air, which unfortunately he was never going to be able to do - unless our friendly psychic decides to make a return appearance to transform Duo into a bird – he figured that the best course of action was to do this instead.

 

Soon tired of using his feet to walk, Duo fell to his hands and knees and began to move as quickly as he could towards Wufei’s bedroom. But as he was about to cross the area in front of their bedroom door, it creaked open slowly, causing Duo to sit upright in with a huge sigh of relief. So, Heero hadn’t shut it all the way after all. Falling back to his hands and knees, he crept into the room, wondering if the pilot was typing away at his computer again. But to his surprise, Heero seemed to be in bed.

 

Oh, yeah. The laptop had been packed away already.

 

With renewed vigor, he climbed up Heero’s dresser – a skill he had come to learn quickly, as Heero had carefully shown him certain areas to hold onto in case he ever needed to get something. He had to sit down on the flat surface of the top, his ears drooping slightly as he tried to catch his breath. Being this tiny was beginning to become such a chore.

 

Getting to his feet again, he turned around to stare into…

 

“Aaaargh!!!!”

 

“Shssh!” Heero placed a finger against his lips with a light frown on his handsome features. “Do you want everyone running in here now?”

 

Duo pouted and shook his head, his heart still thumping wildly. “You mean you were awake all this time? And you couldn’t even help me up!”

 

Heero shrugged lightly and turned away, while mumbling. “I didn’t invite you here and besides, aren’t you supposed to be upset with me? What are you doing here anyway?”

 

Yeah, just what was he doing here anyway? Why wasn’t he in his bed with his blankets to keep him company? He scowled, even though his face flamed with color, before replying a bit defensively. “You didn’t really think that I was going to sleep in that room again with all that noise.”

 

“You could have been with Wufei.”

 

“I don’t want to sleep with Wufei.”

 

Silence for a heartbeat.

 

“So…you want to sleep with me?”

 

“Isn’t that obvious?”

 

Heero turned around slowly, his eyes shining a bit too brightly and if Duo wasn’t already an inner skeptic, he was sure that those were unshed tears in the other boy’s eyes.

Heero held out his palm silently and without speaking as well, Duo crept into it, his eyes lids already drooping in weariness as he felt Heero place him gently on the pillow inches away from his face.

 

They stared at each other for several long minutes, before Duo gave a soft smile and closed his eyes.

 

“Thank you, Heero,” he mumbled. “And…and even if I don’t change back soon…what you said back there…that made me feel good inside.”

 

And suddenly feeling embarrassed at his words, he turned away and squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that Heero wouldn’t laugh at him this time. But to his surprise and inner pleasure, all he got was a light kiss on his hair and a soft whisper of ‘Oyasumi, Duo’ before Heero’s soft and even breathing sent him drifting off into welcome slumber as well.

 

__

 

The next morning…

 

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGHHHH!!! DUO!!”

 

Wufei, who was already dressed for the trip in a spiffy looking white dress shirt and black slacks, dashed towards Quatre’s bedroom as the scream had come from there…as usual.

 

“What is it now?!” he asked with growing impatience. “And why haven’t you two gotten ready?! Our flight leaves in two hours!”

Quatre could only point towards the empty tiny bed, while Trowa explained quietly as he dressed up in a similar outfit to Wufei’s. “Duo isn’t in his bed this morning.”

 

The Chinese boy raised a brow and spun on his heels with a light snort. “What makes you think he didn’t go to his bedroom again? See? Why don’t we ask Hee….aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarghh!!”

 

“Wha…what is it?” came the groggy question from a certain longhaired pilot, who was currently yawning and scratching an arm lazily as he stepped out of the bedroom. He rubbed his eyes and blinked slowly at the three stunned faces before him.

 

“What?!” He finally asked in agitation as the silence became a bit unnerving. “Why are you all looking at me like that?”

 

“Haven’t you noticed anything, you idiot!!” Wufei bellowed with barely concealed excitement – and it wasn’t just from the fact that our once chibi was standing in his birthday suit…or was it? (* smirks*)

 

“Notic…” Hmmm…come to think of it, he felt a bit more…chilly than normal - especially down there.

 

“You are human again, Duo!!” Quatre cried out as he flew into the boy’s arms to everyone else’s chagrin. His hand had instinctively gone towards Duo’s butt to check for a possible evidence of a tail stub there, only to blush faintly as the longhaired boy smirked and teased lightly.

 

“Gee, didn’t know you wanted me that badly, Quatre.”

 

“So, does Heero know yet?” Trowa asked as he subtly pulled away his lover from the naked boy.

 

Duo grinned widely and got to his feet as he ran towards a nearby hallway mirror to check out his heavenly physique.

 

His body! His own body! He touched himself here and there…

 

“Okay, Duo!” Wufei cried out in exasperation. “All your bodily parts especially down there are still intact. The question is…does Heero know?”

 

“Do I know what?” came the familiar deep voice as the Japanese pilot stepped out of the bedroom with a ready scowl on his features, only to gasp softly as he noticed the grinning – the VERY NAKED grinning figure of his friend. His face darkened with color and he shook his head rapidly, wondering why seeing the ‘grown-up’ Duo was enough to make him feel this way. Hell, he had been giving Chibi Duo baths for the past few weeks.

 

He was…eh…smaller back then.

 

“Well…ah…eh…Trowa? We have to go pack right?” Quatre said sweetly as he noticed that the two boys were still gaping at each other.

 

Trowa raised a brow. “We have already packed, Quatre.”

 

The blond nudged him and spoke a bit firmer. “No, we have not, Trowa. We have to go pack now.” He turned his smile to the Chinese boy and gave a small nod. “Isn’t that right, Wufei?”

 

The dark haired boy looked as if he was about to protest at not getting to see anymore action from Heero and Duo, but giving a soft nod, he followed the trio into their bedroom – and no it was not for a quick threesome (much as we would have liked to see that.)

 

Finally left alone, Duo’s grin turned into a small smile. “Looks like I get to wear those Speedos you’ve been eyeing all this time, Heero, hmm?”

 

The pilot’s face flushed at having been caught and he tried to open up his mouth to say something in his defensive only to find himself enclosed in an embrace that left him breathless and speechless. He could feel Duo’s hair tickle his chin as the other pilot had rested his head upon Heero’s shoulder - highly aware of just how much Duo’s warm skin pressed against his body made him feel a certain flutter in the pits of his stomach.

 

“I am not a kitten anymore, Heero,” Duo muttered softly.

 

“I can see that, Duo,” came the quick response even though the boy’s voice trembled slightly.

 

“So, do you think you could handle the new me all over again, Heero?”

 

The dark haired boy opened and then shut his mouth again, his body now shivering at the implications of the sentence and challenge that had been given to him. Was he ready for Duo this time around? Hmm…maybe. Just maybe he was ready to give this braided pilot another shot.

 

And with a small nod, he wrapped his arms around Duo’s waist, while whispering cheekily into his ear. “Not until you wear those Speedos for me, Duo.”

 

The laughter welled up from the pits of his stomach and before long, Duo was howling in mirth. He pulled away from Heero and began to walk towards their bedroom with a teasing smirk on his handsome features.

 

“When does our flight leave?” He asked lightly.

 

“In an hour and a half or so. Why?”

 

Duo winked and stepped into the bedroom, while calling over his shoulder. “I just thought you could help me see just how well these things fit, that’s all. Feel up to it?”

 

Heero felt a prickle at the back of his neck and spinning around sharply, he tried to glare at the three smirking faces staring back at him. Kami, he was surrounded by eavesdroppers. And responding with a smirk of his own, he began to make his way towards the bedroom.

 

“Coming, Duo,” he called out as he gave a light salute to his grinning companions before disappearing into the bedroom. “I will be right there…”

 

And beneath his breath, he mumbled out softly. “…with you always…”

 

THE END~~