“Duo!”

“Maxwell!”

At any other time, Duo would have found it highly amusing to have his name called this way. But at the moment, he was in too much pain to feel any amusement. He was back on the ground, regretting that he had ever gotten up in the first place.

His name was called out by two different persons; most likely the same persons who had shot him. One of the voices he could recognize – Heero’s. Yes, it only made sense that Heero would want to pump him full of bullets. But he could not recognize the other voice. Someone else who wanted him dead? Who can it be…?

Shang’s face came into view and Duo groaned loudly. He groaned even more loudly when Heero appeared beside Shang to look down at him. Then the two of them began talking over his head, as if he wasn’t there.

“He needs medical attention,” said Shang in serious tones. “Fast.”

Heero’s automatic pistol was hovering inches in front of Shang’s forehead. “Give me a reason not to shoot you right now.”

Shang looked at Heero calmly in the eye. “I know my way around here, and I know the shortest path to the main road. Are you going to risk walking around in circles in this forest while Maxwell bleeds to death?”

“We’ll continue from where we left off some other time,” intoned Heero, holstering his pistol. Heero’s hard, cold eyes softened a little when he turned back to Duo. “Are you hurt?”

If that isn’t the most stupid question that I’ve ever heard… “What do you think?” snapped Duo irritably, as if the whole situation was all Heero’s fault. “I have one bullet in my buttock and another in my shoulder. And I have blood flowing out of me like a goddamn river. Do you think I’m hurt, Heero?”

Shang was looking at him strangely and Duo lashed out at him as well. “And you! I don’t know why you didn’t kill me when you had the chance, but you’ll definitely regret it. And if I have to walk with a limp for the rest of my life, I’ll make sure you feel regret for the rest of your pathetic existence!”

Shang turned to Heero and asked almost conversationally, “Is he usually like this?”

The corners of Heero’s mouth twitched. “You don’t know him at all, do you?”

“He~llo! I’m still here, you know,” Duo called out sourly from the ground. “So stop talking to each other as if...” Duo was silenced abruptly when Heero knelt down and pecked him on the lips. His eyes became as huge as saucers before promptly fainting on the spot.

“That should give us about two hours of peace,” said Heero, explaining his actions to Shang. He tried to lift Duo over his shoulder but failed when the pain from his fractured collarbone jarred every nerve in his body. Heero gritted his teeth and was about to try again when Shang took Duo away from him. The other boy carried Duo on his shoulder with ease, but Heero was not about to hand Duo over that easily.

“You’re in no shape to carry Maxwell.” It was as if Shang knew that he was going to object. Shang smiled and said, “Besides, you had your turn.”

Heero made no comment to that as he followed Shang down the hill and through the forest. For some reason, he came to see Shang as a threat that had to be eliminated.

* * * * * *

The sound of breaking glass woke Sally Po up from her sleep. Reflexes kicked in and she immediately reached for the loaded gun under her pillow. She sat up on the bed quickly and aimed her gun at the intruder who had climbed in through the window. No, there were two intruders. She could not see their faces clearly under the dim light from the street lamps below.

“I have a gun and I’m not afraid to use it!” warned Sally, wishing that she had time to reach for the double-barreled shotgun under her bed.

“Sally, I need your help,” said the intruder who had broken her window. It was a new window pane too. She had paid seventy-five dollars for it during a sale at K-mart.

Sally was understandably cross when she answered the intruder. “Haven’t you heard of ‘door’ and ‘knocking’? You’d better have a very good reason for barging in like this, mister. I’m aiming my gun exactly where your head is.”

The other intruder –the one who hadn’t spoken so far – switched on the fluorescent lamps in the room. Sally squinted her eyes and saw her intruders more clearly. “Heero Yuy? What are you doing here??” She looked at the boy next to Heero and frowned. “And who the hell are you?”

Heero ignored her questions. “I’ll explain everything later. Duo Maxwell is now in a car downstairs and he has been shot twice. He needs medical aid and discretion is important…”  

“Yes, yes, I see why it has to be me. You don’t have to explain further,” said Sally Po as she got off the bed. She took a hair band from the dressing table and tied her honey-coloured hair in a pony tail. There was no time for plaiting now. She was still in her night gown and she blushed when she saw both teenage boys watching her intently. “Do you mind?! OUT!!”

The two boys marched out of the bedroom obediently, giving her the privacy she needed to change her clothes.

* * * * * *

The light at the end of the tunnel beckoned to him and Duo found himself drawn to the brightness, the warmth. He felt that he was leaving behind the darkness, the filth and the sins of his life and moving towards a new beginning. He felt oddly peaceful – an emotion he rarely felt in his fifteen years of life. Death was not as scary as he thought it to be.

Don’t go there, Maxwell. At least, not yet.

Duo turned around to see who was the person who had spoken. His eyes narrowed when he saw who it was. YOU, SHANG? YOU HAVE COME TO STOP ME? I THOUGHT YOU OF ALL PEOPLE SHOULD BE HAPPY TO SEE ME GONE.

I’ve never wanted any harm to come upon you.

HA! HOW ABOUT THE TIME WHEN YOU RAPED MY MIND? OR THE TIME WHEN YOU SHOT ME?  

Both of them were accidents, Maxwell.

ACCIDENTS?! HOW CAN THEY BE ACCIDENTS?!

Look, I’m not here to argue over this. I’m here to persuade you to stay in your body. Don’t leave me… Don’t leave us.

US?

Shang pretended not to hear him. If you don’t want me in your life, just say so. I…

I DON’T WANT YOU IN MY LIFE. GET LOST.

Shang sighed, a profound sadness in his eyes. You will be happier with him.

WHAT ‘HIM’?

If you have no idea who I’m talking about, maybe I still have a chance after all.

WHAT ‘CHANCE’? CAN YOU STOP SPEAKING IN RIDDLES?

Oh, Maxwell. You can be so adorably dense sometimes.

‘ADORABLY DENSE’? ‘ADORABLY DENSE’?!! Duo sputtered angrily.

Shang was visibly laughing now. The lifelessness of his eyes dimmed for the duration of his laughter. Gods, I haven’t laughed since…Shang abruptly became sombre once more. Jokes aside, Maxwell. You should seriously think about remaining alive.

I WON’T BE ALIVE FOR LONG ANYWAY. HEERO WOULD SEE TO THAT.

Shang flashed a knowing smile at him. I’m pretty sure he won’t harm you. Far from it.

ARE YOU CLAIMING THAT YOU KNOW THE GUY BETTER THAN ME? HOW LONG HAVE YOU KNOWN HEERO BY THE WAY? 

That is of no consequence. Let just say that he has made a very interesting confession to you just before you recovered your memory. Maybe you can get him to repeat it to you.

Duo’s curiosity was piqued. INTERESTING?

Interesting, affirmed Shang.

* * * * * *

“His condition has stabilized,” said Sally, watching the monitors and the vital signs. “He’ll pull through.” There were obvious eye bags beneath her eyes, giving her the appearance of a panda.

Heero let out the breath which he did not realize he had been holding. “So he’s going to be alright?”

Sally looked at him as if he was a complete idiot. “Which part of the phrase ‘pull through’ do you not understand, Mr. Yuy?” She was not exactly in her best of moods after being dragged out of her bed in the middle of the night to perform an emergency operation. She hadn’t had time to rest for the past twenty hours.

Heero judiciously decided to leave the grouchy Sally alone. He left the ward to find

Shang just waking up from his short nap on the bench outside.

They stared at each other, blue eyes confronting blue eyes.

Heero whipped out his gun – to which he had considerately attached a silencer – and pointed it at Shang. “Give me a reason not to shoot you right now.”

Shang smiled that confident smile of his, despite death staring at him right in the face. “I don’t think you can.”

Shang was actually calling his bluff? Heero had to admit that the boy had guts. “Oh yeah? Watch…” Heero was about to say ‘me’ when he felt a pricking sensation in his left arm. He turned to see Sally Po drawing out the hypodermic needle which she had injected him with. The syringe was empty. “What wuz in the syringe?” asked Heero, slurring his words a bit.

“Tranquilizers.”

And that was the last thing Heero heard before restful darkness claimed him.

Sally gestured to Shang. “Help me get him onto the trolley. I need to wheel him to a room where I can get all that broken glass out of him.”

Shang walked over and took hold of the other end of Heero’s limp body. “You might want to check out his collarbone as well. I think it’s fractured.”

After putting Heero on the flat, cushioned surface of the trolley, Sally directed her attention at the mysterious tawny-haired boy whom Heero had wanted to kill. “Who are you, Shang? A friend or an enemy?”

“The truth is…” said Shang softly. “I don’t know.”

Sally watched Shang walk away without another word, his footsteps echoing in the corridor.

* * * * * *

Due to Duo’s incredible resilience, he was able to leave the hospital in three days. Heero was also eager to leave, claiming that it was too risky to remain in the hospital.

‘Too risky’ indeed! Trowa thought darkly. Heero was certainly of the opinion that the risk was too high to take when it was him or Quatre who had been hurt. But the slightest little scratch on Duo would send him running to Sally Po without any second thoughts.

“Trowa, it’s now your turn to fill me up on what had happened last week,” said Duo who was lying languidly on the sofa, sipping cold lemonade. The braided pilot had shamelessly allowed himself to be pampered by Quatre ever since his return. Quatre was so happy to see Duo back to his normal self again that he was willing to forgive and forget everything – including the fact that Duo had nearly gotten both of them killed.

He was not as forgiving as Quatre, that’s for sure. “You nearly got me killed.”

Duo asked curiously, “How did I do that?”

“You threw yourself in front of Shang when I was about to finish him off.” Trowa pointed at his bandaged head. “And this is the result.”

“You said ‘when you were about to finish him off’. Does this mean that you had shot him before then?” asked Duo in an interrogatory voice.

“Yes… So?”

“Why was he still able to shoot you after you had shot him?”

“My first and only shot was aimed only to disarm him. He had another weapon hidden elsewhere.”

“Why was the first shot aimed only to disarm him, Trowa?”

“I…” How could he reveal that he had not delivered a fatal shot because he wanted Shang to suffer first before dying? That he wanted to avenge Quatre? Quatre was sitting on the couch beside him and not even wild horses could drag the truth out of him at that moment. “What’s the point of asking me this anyway?” asked Trowa suddenly, changing the subject.

“The point is, you can’t blame me for that head injury of yours,” declared Duo. “It is a result of your own actions, not mine.”

Trowa could not believe his ears. Not only was Duo not feeling any remorse for what he had done, he was shifting the blame entirely. “I see…” said Trowa in a tone that was flatter than his usual.

“I’m glad we cleared up that misunderstanding,” Duo gave him a toothy grin. “Do you know where Wufei is? I haven’t gotten his side of the story yet.”

Quatre spoke up quickly. “Wufei was away for most of the past week. So I don’t think that he’ll be able to tell you much…”

“But, of course, you can still try talking to him,” interjected Trowa. “There are a few changes in him as a result of your memory loss though.”

“Changes?” asked Duo suspiciously.

“Try saying the word ‘yellow’ to Wufei and see what happens,” said Trowa with an impassive face.

“I don’t think that’s a good…” Trowa stuffed a bun into Quatre’s mouth.

Trowa said, “Wufei should be in his room. His meditation period should be over by now.”

Duo climbed up the stairs.

[Two minutes later…]

“KISAMA!!!”

Duo dodged the small knives thrown at him by Wufei while desperately trying to keep his pale neck out of the path of Wufei’s swinging katana.    

“Hey! Wufei! Calm down, will you?!” squeaked Duo as another shuriken thudded on the wall two centimeters away from his left cheek.

“Prepare yourself for a fight to the death, Duo Maxwell!!” cried out Wufei in fervent tones as he made another lunge.

“I didn’t know that you have this strong aversion to colour!” Duo leapt out of the way and bounded down the stairs, with Wufei in hot pursuit. Duo ran out of the house and did not stop running for long time, all the while having throwing knives whizzing past his head.

Quatre finished eating the bun which Trowa had crammed into his mouth. “You are not a very nice person, Trowa.”

Trowa shrugged and said, “I don’t pretend to be one.”

                                                                                                    < To the Epilogue of the story >