Disclaimer: not mine, u know that!

Ahhh!!! *ducks* I'm sorry! I know I should have gotten the chapter out sooner, but I was busy!! Gomen, gomen ne...

Laughter floated around the room as the guests mingled, getting to know one another or renewing old acquaintances, but Duo stayed moodily in his corner, nursing a glass of wine (he grimaced) as he watched the others smile and talk amongst themselves.

"Huh, I came here to see everybody, and I'm not even enjoying myself." He brushed back his hair irritably, "Wonder what's wrong." But that question had already been answered thoroughly: He missed Hilde. "Hilde...I wonder what you're doing right now." He muttered, before putting down his champagne flute on a mahogany table and leaning against the wall.

She smiled, her blue-gray eyes flashing in the darkness. "Hey, Duo. Come on, Relena invited us to her party!"

"What? Ojou-san? You're not making me get in a penguin suit are you?"

"Aw...come on Duo. Please?" She grinned, propping her chin on his chest as she stared up at him, her arms loosely around his waist. "Everyone's gonna be there. Even Heero..."

"Huh, Heero's always there. You know he can't stay away from ojou-san for long." Duo smirked, "Even though he's currently rivalling Cleopatra as the ruler of de Nile."

"Oh Duo..." Hilde laughed, shaking her head. "So don't you want to be there when Heero totally goes into an overprotective I'm-not-her-boyfriend-but-no one-else-can-be-either mode?" She teased, watching his violet eyes light up at the thought. "Come on...he'll be glaring at any one that comes within two feet of her..."

"Oi, oi...all right! But I'm not wearing a bow tie. No way. The Shinigami does not wear bow ties."

"Sure Duo...No bow tie but the suit..."

"Duo?" A hand touched him gently on the arm and Duo shook off his memories with an effort, sliding a grin into his face as he looked at Quatre Rababa Winner's slightly anxious face.

"Hey, Q-man. How's it goin'? You're not letting being the head of Winner Corp get to you, are you?" Duo asked, clapping the blonde on the back. Quatre had matured since three years ago, the baby fat melting away at last to give Quatre older, more experienced features.

"Hello Duo. How have you been?"

Good question. Duo mused, but he merely shrugged, the smile never wavering. "This is me Q-man! The God of Death, remember? I always land on my feet!" Except when Hilde walked out on me...then I fell on my ass...hard. "So, how's the party? At least ojou-san didn't have us dress up like penguins this year! "Although I'd wear that stupid suit if Hilde was here with me...even the bow tie. Quatre smiled, his empathy reaching out to the suppressed pain in Duo's eyes. Like every one else, he had been apprised of the situation between Hilde and Duo and his heart had clenched when he saw how listless the ever-exuberant Shinigami was tonight.

"Yes...although dressing up once in a while doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing." Quatre smiled slightly, then glanced around. "Duo...how are you really?"

"Huh, gonna pry into my love life, Q-man?" There was a wealth of sardonic amusement in his eyes before he sighed, "It's been a lot of Hell, Q-man. A shitload of Hell." He smiled crookedly, "Everyone walks around like they're afraid I'm gonna go off at any second and no one will even mention Hilde's name to me. Pretty weird, huh?"

Quatre shook his, his blue eyes soft and anxious, "Duo, I really hate to pry...but what's going on between you and Hilde? What happened? You were meant for each other, I know. I could feel it..."

"Well, apparently she felt differently." Duo said abruptly then felt a pang of guilt for the hurt look in Quatre's eyes. "Sorry Q-man...still stings. Didn't mean to take it out on you." Duo drew in a heavy breath before releasing it in a sigh. "Not feeling very sociable tonight, if you know what I mean."

"Yes, I understand perfectly." Quatre replied, a little sadly, then asked, "Have you asked Heero?"

"Heero?" Duo laughed bitterly. "He and ojou-san are thick as thieves, both looking guilty and glancing this way once every so often...Or at least Rel-sama looks guilty. Who can ever tell with the perfect soldier?"

"They know where she is?"

"They know and they're not spilling the beans." Duo amended, flipping back his braid. His violet eyes sparked angrily before he smoothed his face into one of bland amusement. "No matter that without me, they wouldn't have gotten together. No matter that I'm Heero's best friend, if you know what I mean. That doesn't matter at all." The betrayal in Duo's eyes was more than Quatre could bear and the Arabian smiled tremulously in shared pain.

"Oh Duo, I'm sure everything will turn out all right. You'll see."

"Yeah? That kinda crap doesn't cut it anymore Q-man. There are no such things as happily ever afters for a Shinigami." Leaving the blonde Arabian by the wall, Duo quietly slipped out of the party. He planned to go out tonight and get drunk. Really drunk, maybe get in a fight or two...

***

"Heero, are we doing the right thing?" Relena asked quietly as they watched the American walk out of the party with barely a civil word to anyone. "Duo's...hurting. Really hurting and I don't know if I can stand it any more..." She twisted her fingers absently in a napkin, cerulean eyes dark and unhappy. "And Hilde does love him still..." Heero looked at her, his Prussian-blue eyes asking a silent question, and Relena nodded. "She told me so when I visited her today, and she's miserable too."

Heero nodded slowly, his mind whirling. "But she refuses to see him."

"Yes...she said that Duo just didn't understand."

"Hn." Heero closed his eyes, mentally cursing at the braided baka who was putting him in this position. Damn it, Duo...why can't you figure it out for yourself? Why do you have to be so stupid that you're dragging the rest of us down until you finally figure it out? "The baby?"

"She doesn't want him to know about that either." Relena shook her head. "Heero, she says that she's found a job...but you know that she's already three months pregnant, and it's beginning to show. She...she shouldn't be working as a garage mechanic, Heero."

"What?!"

"Yes...she's working as a mechanic and I'm just worried about her..." Relena looked up into her fiancé's eyes, her own dark with apprehension. "I offered her a place at the mansion, but she just refuses to accept it. She's trying to do this all on her own, Heero. Sometimes...sometimes she acts just like Duo!" Relena blurted out in exasperation. "Both of them are so stubborn!"

"Hn." Heero absently agreed with Relena's assessment, an arm curled about her waist as he stared broodingly at nothing in particular. It was true, what she said. They were perfect for each other, the same striking God-may-care personality, the same devilish smiles and prankster behavior...

"Heero!" He abruptly awoke from his sleep, alert as Relena's aggrieved cry rang from the corridors. The perfect soldier was immediately on his feet, running silently out of the room as he searched vainly for the source of the cry. There. Relena was held by a masked figure, bound like a trussed turkey, her blond hair in wild disarray as she struggled vainly.

"Omae o korusu," He whispered, aiming for the dark shadow, but he failed to notice the figure that crept up behind him, knocking the gun from his hand and wrapping him up in a blink of an eye.

"Who are you? What do you want with us?" Relena demanded, and the one holding her laughed, a feminine voice as Hilde yanked off her mask, grinning devilishly.

"Hilde!?"

"Oh, only to messengers of love, Rel. Don't worry too much about it. I wanted to dress up as a female version of Cupid, but, well, the salvage yard didn't come complete with a bow and arrow. Besides, it's too hard working this with wings. Didja get him, Duo?"

"Yep!" Duo grinned at Heero's dumbfound face and whistling cheerfully, half-carried, half-dragged Heero's deadweight into Relena's room, tossing him inside, knowing perfectly well that the perfect soldier would eventually get out of his bonds. "Sheesh, you gained weight since a year ago, did you know that?"

"I'm going to kill you Duo," Heero said calmly, eyes narrowed as Hilde hugged Relena in apology before pushing the former Queen into the room as well.

"Ah well...the Shinigami is willing to court death!" Duo said dramatically then spoiled the affect by winking. "And hey, you tried to shoot Hilde. What did you expect me to do?"

Hilde was grinning like a Cheshire cat, hands on her hips as she leaned against Duo, arm around his waist. "You know we only get together once every year for the New Years. Now's a good time for you to get to know one another-"

"Intimately." Duo finished, and smirked as Heero struggled to unwrap himself from his bonds. "And don't try to escape Heero. There are bars along the sides of the windows..."

"From the steel grates we use at the salvage yard," Hilde chimed in.

"And weíre gonna be barring this side of the door too. You know...the whole wielding the bars to the wooden frame and junk like that. Sorry ojou-san, we'll remove them in a couple hours." Heero increased his struggles, but Relena sat calmly on the bed, trying not to laugh. She smiled thankfully at them and Hilde blew them both a kiss.

"Ta ta, lovebirds! See you when the sun comes up!"

"Heero? Did you hear me?"

"Huh?" He glanced down at Relena's upturned face.

"I said that we need to do something. We owe them..."

Heero sighed, then said, "Relena, get Hilde to meet with Duo."

"I tried..."

"I'm going to make sure Duo doesn't get into trouble tonight." He caught Relena's hand, "Duo's probably going to a bar. Bring Hilde with you and we'll try to make her see what she's doing to him."

Relena blinked, then nodded hesitantly, "I'll try, Heero. I really will. Please make sure that Duo'll be all right...but what will we do after that?"

"Lock them in a room and make them talk." Heero said blandly, and Relena laughed despite the tense situation.

"That would pay them back, wouldn't it?"

"Yes."

Author's note: So, what did you think? Piece of junk, or what? N'wayz, that's all I had time for. Hope you like it!!