The following two days were comparatively uneventful. Aside from Duo's tendency to cling onto Quatre like a barnacle and shun Heero as he would a leper, everything was just as normal as the old days. The third day brought news that caused a small upheaval in their otherwise peaceful lives.

"Please understand, Duo," insisted Quatre courteously as he tried to break free from Duo's death hold. The long-braided boy had encircled Quatre's waist with his arms after Quatre made the announcement that he had to leave for a few days.

"No! I don't understand and I refuse to understand! How can you be so cruel as to leave me all alone here?!"

"Duo..." Quatre grunted as he made another unsuccessful attempt to free himself. Duo may have lost his memory, but definitely not his strength. "I thought I made myself perfectly clear just now, I have a mission to accomplish..." Duo hugged him even more tightly, causing spots of black and white to explode at the edge of his vision. Only sheer willpower alone stopped him from blacking out entirely.

Trowa silently approached them with a mallet in his hands, offering his assistance, but Quatre frantically waved him away.

"Listen, Duo. You won't be alone here. Heero and Trowa will keep you company."

"That's the problem!" wailed Duo, directing piteous red-rimmed eyes at Quatre. "I'll be dead meat if you're not around! Both Stoneface and Broomhead hate me!"

"If you stop calling them by those names, maybe they won't be half as hostile as they are now," explained Quatre logically. "We've rehearsed this several times, remember? Stoneface is Heero and Broomhead is Trowa. And my name is Quatre."

"Which one of them is Stoneface?" asked Duo, still not easing his hold.

Quatre used his thumb to point at the Japanese pilot who appeared to be engrossed with his laptop ten feet away. It was the shortest distance that Duo would allow between him and Heero without freaking out and screaming blue murder. "That's Stoneface. I thought you knew that already."

"Yo, Stoneface!" shouted Duo in greeting. Duo swiveled his head just in time to avoid getting seared by Heero's furious, penetrating gaze.

Quartre buried his face in his hands. "This isn't working," muttered Quartre to himself in exasperation. He should have given up trying to teach Duo anything a long time ago. The memory loss did nothing to reduce Duo's headstrong attitude, even by a minuscule fraction.

Trowa came up with a solution to rescue Quatre from his predicament. "Let me take over your mission."

Duo beamed at Trowa in approval. "That's the best suggestion I have heard from you so far, Broomhead."

Quatre protested, "But I can't just hand over this mission to you... It's just not done!"

"What exactly do you need to do?" asked Trowa.

"It involves the destruction of a weapons research centre up north."

"There's no problem then. My Heavy Arms can perform the job just as well as your Sand Rock."

"But..." Quatre still had qualms about endangering Trowa's life with a mission which was rightfully his.

"Angel! He wants to go! Let him go then," interrupted Duo hurriedly, his voice pleading.

"Besides, neither Heero nor I has the patience to take care of this little twerp over here," said Trowa with a straight face.

"I resent that 'little twerp' remark!" exclaimed Duo angrily, his nostrils flaring.

"Naturally. It is meant to be an insult." Trowa calmly ignored the fiery comebacks. He turned to Quatre. "I'll collect the itinerary and coordinates from you later."

Trowa moved towards Heero while Duo's provoked tantrums erupted behind him. "I need to talk to you for a minute," said Trowa softly so that only Heero could hear him. Heero cast him a questioning look but he merely signaled to the balcony. Heero followed him, but more out of curiosity than any real desire to do so.

Trowa checked to make sure that they were out of earshot before speaking, "Keep an eye on the two of them when I'm not around."

Heero gave him a few seconds of stare before responding. "Why are you asking me to do this?"

"I'm not asking you to do it. I'm ordering you to do it." The slight emphasis of words betrayed Trowa's emotion.

"You are in no position to give me orders," said Heero icily.

"And you are in no position to say 'no'." Trowa inhaled deeply before unleashing the words contained inside him which screamed for release.  "It's your fault that Duo lost his memory. It's your fault that he is now inseparable from Quatre. It's your fault that I have to leave for this mission. If you have taken better care of what is yours, none of this will happen. So it's only justifiable that you fulfill your responsibilities and set everything right again or, at the very least, prevent the situation from becoming worse. Got that?"

Heero was surprised by the heat in Trowa's voice. However, his surprise was not enough to bring his attention from something Trowa had said that disturbed him. "What do you mean by 'what is mine'?"

"You know what I mean." Not giving Heero the chance to argue, Trowa continued, "I want your word that you will not let Quatre and Duo out of your sight during my absence."

Heero had a strong feeling that Trowa would not allow him to leave the balcony as long as his request was not granted. Of course, if he really wanted to escape from the balcony, he could always jump over the railing and there was nothing that Trowa could do to stop him. After thinking for a moment, Heero decided to take the less painful path. "Alright, you have my word."

* * * * * *

Broomhead is gone at last! he thought elatedly. At first, he did not mind having Broomhead around the house. However, when Broomhead started to deter him from being too close to Angel time after time (usually by yanking his braid), he could not help but dislike the taciturn boy. Now that Broomhead was away, he could be with Angel all day long without any rough interruptions. "There's a very beautiful lake outside," he said in a suggestive tone. When Angel did not answer him, he lightly tapped a shoulder to gain his attention.

"Did you say something?" asked Angel, stirred from his brooding silence.

He repeated himself.

"Yeah," said Angel, and was silent again.

Something was not right. Angel was never this pensive before. He decided to dispense with subtle hints. "I want to swim in that lake."

Angel looked up from his scrutiny of the floorboards. "You can find your swimming trunks in one of the chest drawers in your room."

"I want you to swim in that lake too," he said, a bit too directly.

Angel finally understood.

* * * * * *

"Heero, I need your help in calming Duo down," said Quatre desperately from the doorway to Heero's room.

Heero said impassively, "What happened?"

"I don't know. Ever since we got back from our swim..."

"Oh? Both of you went swimming?" asked Heero, acting as if this was news to him. He pretended that he did not spend the afternoon spying on them with a pair of binoculars. He also pretended that he had not spent an entire hour watching Duo's glistening skin and wet, unruly hair that, for some strange reason, fascinated him to no end.

"Yes. In the lake. Everything was fine until just now. I don't know what has gotten into Duo. He is turning his room inside out, searching for something and there's nothing I can do to make him stop..." Quatre looked as if he was about to pull tufts of hair from his head.

"I'll have a look at him," said Heero in what he hoped was a reassuring tone.

They found Duo in the living room, overturning the sofas and scouring every square inch of the floor. "Where is it? Where is it? Oh God, don't tell me I've lost it..." muttered Duo disconsolately, paying scarce attention to their presence. Heero saw with amazement that there were tears in Duo's eyes.

"Duo..." began Quatre, and took a step forward. That was a mistake, for the sole of his foot had barely touched the floor before Duo spun suddenly and let out a piercing cry. 

"Watch where you're placing that foot!!"

Quatre, not daring to aggravate Duo's condition, froze with one leg slightly raised above the ground. He watched in horror as Heero marched towards Duo purposefully without even bothering to look at where he was stepping. He was sure that the shocked expression on Duo's face mirrored his own.

Anger took the place of shock as Duo faced Heero. "How dare you!" Duo bunched his hands into fists and swung. Heero caught hold of Duo's sailing fist in his hand, his fingers finding a secure hold in the grooves between Duo's knuckles. He did the same with Duo's other fist, and that left only the legs to be dealt with. Before Duo's feet could lash out at groin height, Heero quickly removed that option stepping on them, taking care not to fracture any bones.

"Can we talk now? Like mature and civilized human beings?" said Heero patronizingly.

"You release me this instant, barf-face!" hissed Duo through gritted teeth.

"What are you looking for?" asked Heero, pretending not to hear him.

"None of your business, dog's-breath!" Duo made another vain attempt to pull away.

"I'm making it my business." The hardness in Heero's eyes could have driven nails into solid rock. "What are you looking for?"

"If you really must know, lard-butt, it’s a ring!" Duo's sulky eyes were shining with defiance.

"Ring?" Could Duo be referring to...? "What..." But that's impossible! "..What kind of ring?"

"I don't see why I should tell..."

"Just answer me!" snapped Heero, perhaps more harshly than he should.

Duo's eyes narrowed speculatively. "It has a blue gem on it.."

Strong winds of confusion blew in Heero's skull, turning everything he knew about Duo- or thought he knew about Duo- topsy-turvy. It made no sense. Duo used to treasure his hair as much as his own life in the past. Now he holds it in as much regard as a pair of old socks. And the situation was reversed for the sapphire ring which he had presented to Duo as a gift. It made no sense at all! It could not have been mere amnesia that Duo was suffering from. Severe brain damage, more likely. Or...

Heero did not realize that he had let his guard down until Duo's forehead smashed against his. Caught by complete surprise, Heero fell backward and the two of them landed on the floor in a heap. With some difficulty, Duo managed to disentangle himself from Heero and roll away. Rubbing his forehead furiously, Duo groaned, "Jeez! When I named you Stoneface, I didn't realize how accurate I was!"

Heero was still waiting for the bright stars before his eyes to stop dancing.

Quatre was shaken out of his stupor by this unexpected turn of events. He whirled, ran to the kitchen and returned to the scene with two packs of ice. Heero looked like a coiled king cobra about to strike and Quatre bravely sat between him and Duo to serve as a buffer. Quatre breathed more easily when Heero took the proffered ice pack quietly. Duo was grumbling about thick skulls and blockheads when Quatre turned to him. "Duo, I am advising you, as a concerned friend, not to test Heero's patience anymore."

"It’s not my fault!" Duo visibly winced when Quatre firmly pressed the ice against the bump on his forehead. "Stoneface was the one who barged in and disrupted my search."

"Yes, I admit that he shouldn't have been so rough on you just now." Quatre glanced over his shoulder, saw Heero's dark expression, gulped and continued in hushed tones. "But for your own sake and mine, please continue your search somewhere else."

"But where else could I have possibly dropped it?" wailed Duo, his eyes brimming with tears that threatened to spill out.

Quatre had some misgivings about giving Duo the suggestion that was on his mind. But he had to keep the two boys apart until he was sure that Heero was no longer keen on using Duo as a human punching bag. "It could be in the lake."

Quatre saw Duo's eyes widen in alarm before the rest of the body attached to those eyes sprang up and dashed out of the house. The sentimental value of the missing ring must have been astronomical to Duo, to cause him to react in this way. "Do you know how Duo came by that ring?" asked Quatre, directing his question at Heero.

Heero paused in his dabbing movements before growling, "How should I know?"

* * * * * *

Peering out of a glass window worriedly, Quatre soon regretted voicing his suggestion to Duo. Duo had been submerging and resurfacing in the lake repeatedly for nearly four hours and had refused to be persuaded to eat anything. Dusk was approaching but Duo showed no signs of stopping his insane search. To make matters worse, there were strong winds stirring up water currents in the lake and chilling Duo's poorly clothed body.

Fatigue, cold and hunger began to take their toll on Duo and he finally collapsed bonelessly on the bank from sheer exhaustion. Quatre immediately rushed out to bring Duo in but halted in his tracks when he saw a figure jumping down from a tree near Duo's prone form. The figure gently gathered Duo in its arms and started walking towards him. Under the dim lighting from the house behind him, Quatre identified the figure and was so surprised that he stayed rooted to the spot with his mouth hanging open.

Heero deliberately ignored him and carried Duo up the stairs to his room. After giving Duo a change of clothes and wringing as much water from his thick braid as possible, Heero tucked the sleeping boy under a blanket. It was then that he got a closer look at Duo. Duo's eyelids were puffy, as if from excessive weeping, and the skin covering his face and fingers were all wrinkled from being underwater for too long.

"Baka," he said softly, almost fondly.

Heero switched off the table lamp beside Duo's bed and went back to his own room. He dug into a drawer and took out a small, portable radar. There was still some daylight left. He would bring along a submersible torchlight, just in case.

* * * * * *

Shang washed the wound with antiseptic before bandaging up his right hand. His left shoulder still throbbed with a dull ache where his previous gunshot wound was. Undoubtedly branded a traitor to be shot upon sight, he could not take the risk of seeking medical help in clinics or hospitals. He knew that he would sever all his ties with OZ the moment he decided to pull his gun on Sheila, and he had not regretted that decision. OZ had no need for pilots who were not 'functional' and he understood more clearly than anyone else that he would not be able to return to the skies without Maxwell by his side as his wingmate.

The thought of Maxwell brought a fresh pang of guilt. The gut-twisting guilt that came from the realization that he had unwittingly helped Sheila to break Maxwell's mind. Despite the failure to establish a complete bond between their minds, Shang still regarded him as his wingmate. That was the main reason why he was still stubbornly holding on to that tenuous link with Maxwell's mind. The main reason why he was expending all his mental strength every night to communicate with Maxwell's mind and to shield his dreams from nightmares. His efforts were not wasted as he could feel the bond becoming stronger with every bit of extra trust he gained from Maxwell. This trust would serve him well when the time comes for him to take Maxwell away from Hojo Tsukasa, or any others who might be guarding him.

A gentle tingling at the back of his mind informed him that Maxwell's mind was accessible to him. It was a feeling which he missed acutely and yearned for, ever since Cheng left him. He allowed his thoughts to drift...

Shang found him in a dark recess of his mind. Maxwell appeared to be only seven or eight years old in his dreams, a sign that the damage done by the macrophage had caused some form of mind regression to occur. The much younger Maxwell was on his hands and knees, his eyes scanning the ground before him desperately. Puzzled, Shang moved closer towards him, only to be startled back a few steps.

"Watch where you're placing that foot!!" screamed Maxwell, looking extremely enraged. However, after taking a closer look at him, Maxwell's expression softened. "Sorry, I didn't know it was you. I thought..." Maxwell brightened up visibly as a thought occurred to him. "Shang, you've gotta help me find it. It's around here somewhere. If we look for it together, we'll find it in no time..."

This went on for another five minutes before Shang decided to interrupt.

"Maxwell, I can't help you if you don't tell me what is this 'it' you keep on talking about." He was becoming worried with the way Maxwell was behaving. Could this be a sign of further mental deterioration? The macrophage must have inflicted more damage than he had thought.

"It's a ring, Shang, a ring. It was on my finger one moment, you know, and then it's no longer there! Curses, some one must have stolen it... no, that's not right... I lost it myself. I shouldn't have gone swimming. Shouldn't! If I have known..."

"Calm down!" He regretted having to raise his voice against Maxwell but could find no other way to stop him from going into hysterics. Seeing the hurt look in Maxwell's eyes, he quickly walked forward and held the boy gently until the look disappeared from his eyes. "That ring..." began Shang, his voice deliberately soft and soothing. "Why is it so important to you?"

There was a long period of silence in response.

"Maxwell?" asked Shang uncertainly.

"Don't rush me. I'm still thinking," said Maxwell, sounding slightly embarrassed.

Shang knelt down so that both of them were eye to eye. "Maxwell, are you trying to tell me that...?"

"Hey! You're not the one with the memory loss here!" declared Maxwell defensively, trying to justify his irrational behaviour.

"I'm also not the one with hysteria here, and for no apparent reason," stated Shang calmly.

"Of course there's a reason!" retorted Maxwell angrily. "I... I just haven't recalled it yet." Confusion and frustration chased each other around his face as he continued, "It's just one of the few things that I'm very sure of in my present state. Like my trust in you. Like... like my knowledge of where the fridge is... Like..."

The need for understanding in Maxwell's voice was so palpable that it could not be ignored. "I understand what you're going through, Maxwell. Say no more about this if you do not wish to."

Maxwell embraced him impulsively, locking his hands behind Shang's neck. "Thank you." Shang could feel the withdrawal of warmth when Maxwell pulled away. "At least now I have some idea why I can still remember certain things and not others," said Maxwell hastily, as if trying to cover up the awkwardness of the situation. "I think my heart remembers what my mind has forgotten."

"So does your stomach," added Shang, his lips forming the ghost of a smile. Maxwell's body shook with suppressed laughter for a while before he burst into guffaws. Shang noted how wonderful his laugh was. He remembered a time when he was still capable of the same thing. Being with Maxwell gave him the certainty that he would be able to experience joy and laughter again. I need to have more than just mental contact with him. I need...

"Maxwell..."

The laughing boy paused and waited expectantly for him to continue.

"Do you want to arrange for us to meet outside your dreams?"

.: The story continues in "The Blossom" series :.

                                                                                                      < To Part 1 of "The Blossom" >