untitled Duo/Quatre Quatre/Duo Fic 

-----part 1-----

"It's so perfect here," Quatre smiled to himself as he found a spot on the crowded beach to set up his towel. He rubbed a bit of sunblock on himself and settled down to enjoy the day. As his body enjoyed the soothing warmth of the sunlight and the gentle ocean breeze, his uchu-no-kokoro found comfort in the simple joy of the children who played nearby, swimming, building sandcastles, and discovering new seashells. With this peace of body, heart, and soul coursing through him, he drifted off to sleep.

Quatre woke some time later and rolled over, unaware of the time that had passed. The sunblock, it turned out, hadn't been nearly as effective as the bottle claimed. This became all too obvious when Quatre's back touched the towel.

"OW!" he yelped. "Oh no! Quatre no baka!" he cursed himself as he got to his feet.


Duo looked up from the TV as Quatre walked in. "How was the beach?" he asked, cheerfully.

"See for yourself." Quatre grumbled as he displayed his reddened back.

"Oh man! That's real bad, Quatre! I don't see any blistering, but we are talking lobster burn here! Come on up to my room, I think I have something I can use to take the sting off that."

Duo lead Quatre to his room. Motioning for Quatre to sit on the edge of the bed, he retrieved the first aid kit from under his bed. He took out a few things and began to treat Quatre's burns.

"You keep a first aid kit under your bed?" Quatre asked.

Duo nodded, but did not elaborate. Instead, he turned his attention to Quatre's sunburn. 

"I look like a mummy." Quatre said, after checking himself in the mirror. He stretched out his arms and walked, stiff-leggedly, around the room.

"The medicine on the bandages will soothe that sunburn and help the skin heal." Duo explained, failing to sound like a physician because he was laughing too much at Quatre's mummy-impersonation. As he listened to the sound of his own laughter, he realized he hadn't heard it in months. Not since.

He sat on the edge of the bed, tears coming to his face. "Heero..." he whispered. "Why did you leave me?" He looked over and saw the tears forming in Quatre's eyes. He kissed them away. "I'm sorry." he said. "I didn't mean for my grief to upset you."

"It's not just that." Quatre shook his head. "I can't stop thinking about him, Duo. I know they're happy together but..."

"I know." Duo agreed. "I thought Heero loved me. I thought he and I had a future together."

"I thought the same thing about Trowa." Quatre rested his head on Duo's chest. "When he and Heero announced their engagement, it hurt so much..."

"It hurt me, too, Quatre." 

"Why did you stay?" Quatre asked.

Duo kissed Quatre's forehead. "Self-preservation originally." he explained. "I knew if I went off on my own, I'd kill myself. But the longer I stayed, the more I fell in love with you. Now, I can't imagine a day without you." 

Playfully, lovingly, affectionately, the two pilots kissed away each other's tears, their bond of friendship and love growing stronger with each feather-light touch.

-----TBC-----